A gaggle of motherless goslings arrived in Gloucester last night, a day after they brought Salem traffic to a screeching halt.
Licensed wildlife rehabilatator Jodi Swenson will be bringing up the babies here on Cape Ann until they're fully feathered, when she will release them to the wild.
The six baby geese caused cars to stop on Highland Avenue in Salem when they crossed the road — without their mother or father — during Tuesday's rainy afternoon.
The 1 p.m. incident caused a large backup of inbound traffic approaching the light at Swampscott Road. One unidentified couple got out of their car, corralled the goslings and scooped them up.
Within minutes, two workers from the Northeast Animal Shelter, which is just down the road, were on the scene.
Dawn Kirlis and Victoria Gillespie, kennel assistants, went outside to see what was happening. They were surprised to see a couple who had just dropped off cat food at the shelter standing in the road holding the baby Canada geese.
"They handed them to us," said Kirlis, who took three of the babies. "I put them all down my shirt to keep them warm."
The women walked back to the shelter, put the animals in a cat carrier, and returned to the scene.
"We were out in the pouring rain looking for the mother goose, which we couldn't find," said Kirlis. "We're not sure if she got hit by a car, or eaten by a coyote," or just separated from her babies. "They usually follow their mother and she wasn't around."
The geese were taken back to the shelter and put into a tub filled with water. Later, they were transported to the Danvers Animal Hospital, which treats injured wildlife, before being brought to Gloucester last night.
Swenson said caring for the goslings will not be too difficult; she'll feed them duck starter — grain crumbles available from Agway — and greens, and avoid having them attach to her — "they imprint heavily."
"As long as they have each other, they'll be good," she said. "We don't want them to like people too much."
When the goslings are feathered, Swenson said she will likely free them in Essex. "I'll look for ponds or rivers where there are other ducks, but I'm not sure how long that will be," she said. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
Although baby geese in traffic can constitute an emergency situation, wildlife should be left alone in most cases, according to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.
"It's that time of year when we get many calls about young creatures that people find, and it's very difficult," said Marion Larson, a biologist with the state agency. "People are really trying to do the right thing, but there are not enough places or people to provide the kind of help that is needed that allows these animals to return to the wild and survive."
Young animals often are left on their own for long periods of time by their parents, Larson said. "It's the best thing for them because they need to learn to survive."
Tom Dalton and Andrea Holbrook may be contacted at aholbrook@gloucestertimes.com.
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