There are few things cuter than a baby goose. Their soft down and itty bitty wing nubs are ridiculously adorable.
And the little peeps and whistles? Too much.
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But as cute as they are out in nature, they are a handful to take care of at home. Just like any kind of baby, they require round-the-clock care, something Mike Jivanjee didn’t know when he first spotted a little fluff on the lake.
She was by herself, flailing in the water. He realized she was hurt, so he went over and scooped her up.
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“One of my friends noticed her drowning in the water, like almost desperate, alone. At any minute she would have been run over by a boat,” he said, according to CBS.
He tried to reunite her with her family, but they rejected her. She had an injured foot, and that’s his guess as to why they didn’t want her back: Nature can be cruel sometimes.
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But he couldn’t just leave her all alone to fend for herself. She wouldn’t make it. “I just figured I would keep it alive long enough to be an adult and to fend for itself,” said Jivanjee — a kind thing that many would agree to.
Two years later, though, she’s stuck around. He’s tried everything he can think of: The one time he tried to drive her far away and release her into the wild, she made it home before he did.
Kyle’s not so friendly with all people, though — and apparently, she’s a pretty good judge of character.
“When girls come around and she senses they’re a threat,” Jivanjee said, “she lets them know. She’s smart enough to know actually who the threats are and who they aren’t.”
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Whether he likes it or not, he’s now family. And it didn’t end with Kyle, either: Kyle found a mate, and together they raised one baby — and abandoned it.
Already familiar with what raising a gosling entailed, Jivanjee sighed and scooped up this baby, too, spending a lot of his time and attention on raising “Jack.”
Jack’s not flying yet, but his mother Kyle still hangs around and flies alongside Jivanjee’s boat. The three may be an odd company and quite the spectacle, but they’re clearly birds of a feather.
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