Cincinnati police responded to an unusual distress call on Monday... from a mother goose.
The bird was pecking on the door of a police cruiser in an apparent bid for some attention.
"It kept pecking and pecking and normally they don't come near us," Sergeant James Givens told WKRC. "Then it walked away and then it stopped and looked back so I followed it and it led me right over to [a gosling] that was tangled up in all that string."
The baby bird was caught in string from a balloon.
Givens and specialist Cecilia Charron called the SPCA for backup, but when no one was available they decided to help the gosling themselves.
With Givens recording and mother goose honking, Charron freed the baby bird from the balloon.
The baby animal promptly ran off to join the rest of the family:
Givens posted the gosling rescue video on YouTube and Facebook, and Charron's balloon-cutting skills earned her some kudos from the department brass:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said balloons frequently pose problems for birds, turtles and other animals.
Like the little gosling, some get entangled in the string -- but many aren't rescued. Some are injured or strangled, and others choke while trying to eat the balloon.
(h/t Mashable)
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