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Swans step in to play the part of Mother Goose

Eve Dugdale
20/12/2006

A PAIR of Tameside swans are gearing up for the panto season and fighting for the lead role of Mother Goose.

The birds, who are regulars on the borough's two canals, have adopted a goose.

Animal lover Doreen Greaves, 66, of Sandheys, Audenshaw, has monitored the trio for the past three months.

"They used to be on the Tame Valley river, but now I see them when I take my dog out at around 9am on the stretch of canal above Dunkirk farm in Hyde. They're always together," she said.

"I've never seen anything like this before. This goose seems to just have hooked on to the swans and they treat it as though it's one of their cygnets.

"One of the swan's mates was killed earlier this year - some idiot shot it. Swans mate for life and she was crying for it for ages, but she seems to have found another mate and now this goose is with them too."

RSPB spokesperson Jane Sellek said it was unusual for geese to be adopted by other birds. She said it was possible the parent goose may have deposited an egg in the swan's nest as a survival strategy or that the goose, which is a common goose, attached itself to the swans after its parents were absent.

She added: "It could simply be that the goose was a bit lonely because there aren't any geese around, so it's tagging on with the swans."

Chris Leah from the Wooden Canal Boat society has spotted the three birds at various locations over the course of this year.

"I know the goose tries to get in the museum at Portland Basin. It stands on the bank near the doors pecking and trying to get in.

"I think it has actually been in a few times and the museum staff now feed it," he said.