Nine years ago, Carla Shymko of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan met a pair of geese which she named Steve and Lulu.
She knew they were adorable but she never expected how the family would grow so close to the flightless birds other over the years.
Initially, the family thought of mixing them in with the chickens, thinking they are all birds anyway. But eventually, they have come to realize just how fun the geese were, especially Steve.
The goose connected with Carla and would follow her around wherever she went.
“If I was in the yard he would always be right beside me,” Carla told The Dodo. “He and Lulu would sleep right beside our large dogs and they would be the first to welcome guests when they would arrive.”
The geese came to Carla’s family home after her two youngest children brought them from a nearby sanctuary.
Steve is a natural leader and carer, always there to look after the goslings up until Lulu sadly passed four years after getting adopted. He is always so lively and energetic, always going around the Shymko’s property. His presence always made the place lovely and Carla knew the day won’t be as complete without Steve bustling around the family home.
But, one day, Carla woke up and she noticed Steve was nowhere in sight. This caused her to be alarmed and looked for the ever-present goose.
“I asked (my sons), ‘have you seen Steve?’ and they said ‘No’ and I noticed some feathers so we came back here right away,” Carla shared in another interview.
Carla knew something was up and she feared that the worst has happened to her beloved goose. She had her family going around on ATV just to find Steve. Everyone was looking for the goose with electric blue eyes and a bright orange beak, hoping they weren’t too late.
The search was not successful so Carla eventually decided to post about Steve’s disappearance on social media. She was worried people might think she’s crazy for looking for a goose, but there was no other way for her to easily locate Steve.
“I ended up putting something on Moose Jaw Lost And Found Pets and a couple of other pages and honestly within an hour, I had hundreds of comments. The kindest people reached out to me,” Carla said. “People offered to go driving around looking for him.”
And then, the bad news
One of Carla’s friends sent an email about someone seeing a fox on the road carrying a white goose on its mouth. Carla’s world crumbled as she realized that the worst happened to her beloved Steve.
“We were devastated especially the thought of him being hurt badly and suffering was just so sad for us. He was such a huge part of our family and we were heartbroken,” Steve’s mom told The Dodo.
Hundreds of messages flooded in Carla’s Facebook page, comforting her after losing Steve. But, just when everyone thought that Steve has gone for good, the adorable goose made a comeback nobody expected, especially Carla.
Steve’s amazing comeback
The next morning, Carla and her husband woke up after hearing tapping sounds coming from the door. When her husband went to check who the early visitor was, he got surprised to find out it was Steve! The man could not believe what he was seeing.
“Steve was waiting at our back sliding doors where he would always wait for me when I would go in the house,” Carla shared. “[Steve] was weak and laying down … gently pecking on the window trying to tell us he was home.”
The brave goose clearly had a long and perilous journey back home. He looked exhausted and scared, which prompted the Shymko family to tend to him and make sure he’s comfortable and happy now that he’s found his way to them.
“For the first week he was back he was very weak and very scared,” Carla said. “We took it slow but he is doing amazing now and soon as he hears us in the morning he is back to letting the whole surrounding area know that Steve is back.”
A goose admired by the whole town
People online finally knew about Steve’s story of survival and sent their messages to the Shymko family and to the brave and adorable goose. His story went viral and someone on social media even petitioned to vote for Steve as the mayor of Moose Jaw! Too bad only humans are accepted as candidates.
Steve has healed from the scary situation he almost didn’t make out of. He’s a true survivor and definitely deserves all the love he’s now getting not just from his own family but from the people of Moose Jaw as well.
Learn more about Steve and his adventure and survival in the video below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
