Canada goose rescued from ice in Saugus

To rescue the goose, Vogal had to crawl out about 300 feet on the frozen pond, which was only one to two inches thick. If he had stood straight on the ice, he would have fallen through, said Vogal.

He wore a cold water emersion suit, which would have insulated him from the cold and acted as a flotation device had he fallen in.

“I crawled out with a net. [The goose] gave me a little bit of a chase, but not too much,” said Vogal, explaining that the goose was exhausted from trying to escape.

The goose was not still frozen in the ice when Vogal reached him, because the pond had melted significantly with the weekend’s warmer weather.

Vogal thinks that the goose was sitting in the middle of the pond trying to avoid predators like coyotes. He said that when geese sit in one spot they are actually keeping the water around them warm, but with freezing temperatures, the goose became trapped.

The ice started to melt, but the goose still couldn’t get away because a combination of the remaining ice and inch of water on the surface made it too slippery for him to stand up. He also couldn’t fly away because his wings kept hitting the ice, said Vogal.

The goose is being treated at the Animal Rescue League’s Dedham facility and seems to be in good health. “He’s eating, he’s drinking. He’s doing everything he’s supposed to be doing,” said Vogal. “And defecating. Lots and lots of defecating.”

The goose’s wings seem to be strong, but he’s still having trouble with his balance standing up, so he’ll be taken to a rehab facility—either New England Wildlife in Weymouth or Tufts Wildlife in Grafton.

After the goose is deemed strong enough, he will be released into the wild, said Vogal.