While driving westbound on my way to work, I spotted a lone Canada goose flying in a southerly direction at treetop level over the road. I then turned northward and, within approximately 2 kilometers, noticed the goose in my driver’s-side mirror flying right beside me. I pulled over to the side of the road and it landed behind me. That is when I pulled out my iPhone and started filming.
The goose was very friendly and approached me. It looked lost—or perhaps it had been raised by humans, and thought I was that individual. It looked thirsty so I stopped filming and tried to give it some water from the palm of my hand, but it did not drink it. It was at that point I had the idea of seeing if it would follow me to a nearby lake (Shiningbank Lake in Alberta, Canada).
Along the way, it flew beside my truck, apparently drafting like geese do in a ‘V’ formation. My road speed was about 50 kilometers per hour (30 miles per hour). The total distance to the lake was close to 10 km. At every corner en route to the lake, I would slow down and be very careful not to be in its way or hit it, as the goose started to slow down for the corners. In the last few hundred meters it would walk behind the truck rather than fly (it may have been too tired to take off again).
It was at that point my phone memory filled up and I could no longer film. The goose walked into the lake, had a drink, swam around, and fed along the shore. After deleting some apps on the phone, I was able to continue filming again. After approximately 10 minutes, I walked slowly back to my truck and drove away. The goose seemed content to stay at the lake at that point. I could hear other geese from across the water, so hopefully it connected with them.
Video footage shot in Alberta, Canada on Aug. 11, 2015.
