For Some Canada Geese, A Life On The Road

WETHERSFIELD ??

Only a bird-brained parent would raise their children year after year on the thin grassy strips on the edges of a highway, feet from speeding streams of offspring-flattening cars and trucks.

Maybe that explains why every spring, nesting geese return to the edges of I-84 in Waterbury, to a Route 3 entrance ramp in Glastonbury, to a retention pond off I-84 in Southington and other spots close to busy highways.

The Canada goose family that thrives alongside I-84 near exit 25A in Waterbury has been a springtime show there for at least four years.

The geese that appear on the Route 3 ramp each spring in Glastonbury have been returning there for several years, said Kevin Nursick, a state Department of Transportation official who is a regular commuter on the road.

"It's one of the most dangeous places, at least for us, to think of raising a family," said Nurisck, a spokesman for the DOT. "But I've seen geese with their babies in that same spot each spring for several years now. It's hard to tell, but I assume it's the same nesting pair."

The highway-side parade of goose parents and offspring is a rite of spring that motorists, state troopers and state highway crews see annually: Downy goslings pecking away at the grass, sheparded by watchful bird parents, seemingly oblivious to the rushing traffic nearby.

State police with Troop A in Southbury who patrol the Waterbury stretch see the geese near exit 25A each spring and on occasion get called to fender-benders caused by someone who brakes suddenly to avoid the geese.

"We've had a few accidents there. Just property damage. No injuries. Last one was about two months ago," Trooper Richard McDaniel said." People see the family of geese and stop suddenly."

Eoin McClure, a supervisor in the DOT regional highway maintenance office in Waterbury, is new to the job this year. He's spotted the birds by the exit but says no squashed geese have been picked up this spring by DOT crews in that area.

That's not to say that roadside birds aren't in danger. Earlier this month, a goose family that tried to cross Route 67 in Oxford got hit by cars, killing the mother and several goslings. Three surviving goslings were taken to the Ansonia Nature Center for care.

Nursick said the goslings he spots on the sides of Route 3 each spring are closely watched by the adult which hover over the babies and push them away from the road. The birds seem to know to stay away from the traffic, he said. Which is a good thing, because the state policy is to not interfere with wildlife and let them alone.

"I don't know why they return to nest there, but maybe it offers protection in an odd way," Nursick said. "The busy road cuts off access to would-be predators, at least on one side."

ron paul molly sims hostess brands nh primary david crowder band natalie wood van halen