Goslings mysteriously disappearing

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aring-80476.html


HAMILTON - A pair of Canada geese have returned to nest in a parking lot in
Enterprise Park, and employees there are fed up.

But their frustrations are not with the geese, or the copious droppings that
the migrating birds are known for. Employees are fed up with whoever - or
whatever - keeps taking the pair's goslings after they hatch.

For the past two years, the short, fluffy, dewey-eyed goslings have
disappeared shortly after being born, said Darlene Carmella, clinical
manager at the Fresenius Dialysis Center on Mcbride Court.

"They search for their children for about three days. Then the mom and dad
get on our building, and just cry," Carmella said.

The cries are loud and mournful, employees said, and the center's patients
always ask what the noise is all about.

Last year, the parents were seen waddling proudly around the parking lot
with the offspring in tow the day after they hatched. The next morning,
however, the babies were gone just like the previous year, Carmella said.

Employees said they were told that the goslings were taken by someone who
works at a nearby business, Sensus LLC, because the person didn't want the
geese going to the pond in front of the Sensus building.

That's absolutely not true, said Sensus President Daniel J. Wampler.

While harmless deterrents are used to prevent geese from nesting by the
pond, Wampler said geese and other wildlife use the pond every day and he
doesn't mind at all.

"I think its pretty cool to see the little things floating around out
there," he said.

It appears the goslings were missed by Sensus employees as well. A photo
album that sits in the waiting room at Sensus has photos from three years
ago of the parents and their goslings swimming in the pond and peering
through the building's front doors.

A more plausible explanation might be coyotes, said Aaron Ireland, of the
Ohio Division of Wildlife.

Ireland, the wildlife officer for Butler County, said Canada geese are
protected under U.S. Fish and Wildlife regulations and anyone caught taking
the creatures without a permit would be arrested and prosecuted.