Don’t you love the feeling you get when an animal runs toward you because it’s so happy to see you? They’re capable of so much affection.
A gosling named Sam has found his very favorite human.
Just pecking along
Sam is out with his mom and sibling just pecking away at the grass and doing other goose things when the video is taken.
But it’s pretty clear by the way the camera is trained on him that the person behind it knows they’re going to get a reaction once he looks up.
It takes a minute, but we’re not disappointed.
It’s hilarious to watch the wheels turn in Sam’s head when he goes from “hey, it’s one of those other creatures” to “OMG, that’s the best one!”
Nature-lover gets loved back
The man behind the camera is Doug Carleton. He’s gone to the same little part in his city nearly every day for three years to hang out, take in some nature, and watch the geese who live there.
And while Carleton didn’t go in with the idea of making friends with the fowl, it turns out he just fit right in.
“I am generally good with animals, I can befriend the most snaggletoothed cat,” Carleton told The Dodo. “Geese were new to me, but I just picked up how to not alarm them or give them reason to fear me, and eventually all of them just became cool with having me amongst them and interacting with them.”
He also answered the first question that came to our minds: yes, he has named them. All eight of them.
“I can walk up to and just list them off as anyone would eight people they know well,” Carleton said.
The geese now trust him (though he doesn’t waltz in with the idea of getting close every time). And he believes they’ve come to accept him as a friend.
At the very least, they recognize him and can tell him apart from other humans. And they don’t hiss at him like they do at other people. (Geese aren’t known for being very friendly, after all.)
Meeting Sam
Back in June of 2020, Carleton saw a new gosling in the gang – and he named him Sam.
But it would be a little while before he would get to know him since Sam was born safely away from humans on a little island in the middle of the pond. That’s where the geese sleep at night and go to get away from humans and other predators.
Of course, once Sam learned to swim, Carleton got a closer look during an early outing to the shore.
And for whatever, reason, Sam decided he liked the look of the man and trusted him.
It turns out the little gosling just happens to be the friendly type.
“He is the most passive of all the geese so far, geese tend to hiss at people when they get cornered/think someone is moving too close and ignoring the honking,” Carleton said. “I have never heard Sam hiss at anyone yet.”
In the video he shot, Sam looks up and recognizes him and then waddles right over as fast as he can.
Carleton says sometimes the other geese follow him, but this time it was just a solo greeting of a gosling’s favorite guy.
And we can’t help but laugh at the way he approaches – it’s too sweet!
Of course, the rest of the geese like Carleton too, but not as much as Sam.
Even as an adult now, Sam will still run over with his wings spread to greet his pal!
Be sure to scroll down to see the video proof of this special relationship.
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