00:04you need a knife to cut it the goose kept pounding on the police car door ignoring the food beside
00:12her then she walked away stopped and looked back again and again finally sergeant givens followed
00:20her toward the creek but when he saw what she had brought him to he froze in shock then he
00:26grabbed
00:26his radio and urgently called for help but before we start smash the like button and make sure to
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00:38minutes earlier james givens had been enjoying a quiet break in his parked cruiser near mill creek
00:43in cincinnati it was monday may 9th 2016 and he had a bagel to eat before returning to work
00:51more than 25 years with the police department had given him plenty of experience responding to
00:57unexpected calls this one began with a tapping sound against the driver's door when he looked down
01:03a goose was standing beside the car she was close enough to reach the metal with her beak
01:08and she seemed determined to keep his attention at first the explanation appeared obvious he was eating
01:14and she wanted some of his food givens broke off a piece of the bagel and tossed it outside
01:20he expected her to take it and move away instead the food remained where it landed the goose continued
01:27pecking and calling that was what made him watch her more closely she had approached a person holding
01:32food but now that food was within reach she showed no interest in it something about his first
01:38explanation no longer fit then the goose turned away from the cruiser givens watched her walk a short
01:44distance before she stopped and looked back he was still inside she returned to the door
01:49and began again the repeated movement gave him a different possibility to consider perhaps the
01:55interruption would not end with him giving her something perhaps she wanted him to go somewhere
02:00he could not know that for certain but the direction she kept taking was clear eventually curiosity won
02:07he put his breakfast aside and opened the door the goose moved off and this time givens followed
02:13she led him away from the parking area toward the creek across ground he could easily have overlooked
02:19from his seat there was nobody there to wave him over or explain what was wrong he had no description
02:25of an emergency only the strange behavior of the bird ahead of him then she reached a patch of grass
02:31and his attention shifted to something much smaller close to the ground a pair of tiny feet was moving
02:37the movement was quick but the little creature was getting nowhere givens stepped closer
02:43a gosling was caught in a tangle of string a balloon lay attached to it dragging as the young
02:49bird tried to move from the car he had seen only an adult goose behaving strangely here he could see
02:56what she had left behind her youngster was alive but its efforts to escape kept bringing the same
03:01tangled material along with it givens stopped in shock the bird at his door had led him directly to
03:07this spot and now there was something he could help with the untouched bagel suddenly took on a
03:13different meaning he had offered food while the gosling remained trapped nearby when the goose
03:18walked away and looked back she had been moving toward her young whether he could explain her behavior or
03:24not following her had brought him to a problem he would otherwise have missed he looked at the string
03:29and considered how to reach the little bird that was when the mother beside him became a concern of a
03:35different kind givens was nervous about touching the gosling with her so close he had heard how
03:40protective geese could be around their young and he did not know how she would react to a stranger
03:45reaching down the youngster was frightened too another attempt to scramble away could make it harder to
03:51get a gentle hold the discovery had answered why the goose kept returning to his car it had not yet
03:57answered how he was going to help he contacted the local animal welfare organization hoping someone
04:02experienced with wildlife could come no rescuer was immediately available calling had been the
04:08sensible first step but it had not put another pair of hands beside the creek given still faced the same
04:14tangled gosling and its watchful mother he used his radio to ask for assistance and specialist
04:20cecilia charon came to help after 24 years in uniform she was accustomed to responding when someone
04:27needed her what awaited her this time was a small bird in the grass with no way to understand the
04:33people gathering around it charon approached and the gosling tried to scramble away pulling the balloon
04:39with it she needed a way to stop that movement without chasing the frightened youngster around placing
04:45her foot on the balloon gave her the chance to reach down and secure a gentle hold givens took out
04:51his
04:51phone and began recording as she lifted the little bird the mother was close enough to see her young
04:56in a stranger's hands this was the part he had been worried about but the attack he feared never
05:02came the mother stayed nearby and called while charon held the gosling her presence had made givens
05:09hesitate now as his colleague began helping she allowed the work to continue he watched the bird
05:15then the officer's hands the same goose that had been so insistent beside his car was keeping her
05:20distance from the person touching her young he could not ask what she understood he could see that
05:25charon had the space she needed to help the string was tangled enough that freeing the gosling took
05:31patience charon kept the little body supported while working the strands loose concentrating on
05:36what remained attached there was no benefit in rushing the final part and putting the bird down with
05:42another piece still wrapped around it givens continued filming capturing the rescue as the mother called
05:48nearby gradually the tangle gave way the balloon that had followed the goslings every movement
05:54would no longer have to follow it anywhere when the remaining string was removed charon lowered the
05:59youngster toward the grass and released her hold the gosling ran this time nothing dragged behind it
06:05it went straight back toward its mother and the rest of the family crossing the short distance that
06:11had seemed impossible only moments before givens kept the camera on them as they headed toward mill creek
06:17the little bird joined the others and together they moved into the water charon could finally let it go
06:23without having to reach for it again that ordinary movement was the reward for everything that had
06:28happened beside the car the youngster did not remain with the people who had helped it it went back to
06:33being part of its family there was something deeply moving about how quickly the scene changed once the
06:39string was gone a few moments earlier all the officers attention had been fixed on holding the bird and
06:44freeing it now they could stand back and watch it leave the mother no longer needed to stay beside the
06:50tangle in the grass one detail made the reunion more poignant the balloon had been a mother's day
06:56balloon the holiday had been the day before and an object made for celebrating mothers had ended up
07:02separating a young bird from its own the officers did not need a dramatic explanation for that contrast
07:08it was there in the discarded string and the family swimming away charon was a mother herself beside the
07:15creek she had used her hands to help another mother reach the simple ending she had been waiting for
07:20for charon the rescue became one of the most memorable moments of her career its importance
07:26was contained in that brief run back to the family givens had brought his phone out to record her work
07:31and the footage preserved something words alone could struggle to convey the mother's presence during
07:37the rescue the care in his colleagues hands and the youngster moving freely at last the discovery had
07:43begun with his decision to pay attention the reunion had depended on someone staying to finish the job
07:48the rescue also reached people far beyond the bank of mill creek as the recording drew attention
07:54the two officers were recognized for stopping to help on may 17th the director of the cincinnati zoo
08:00personally thanked givens and charon for saving the gosling a moment that could easily have passed
08:06unnoticed had become something others wanted to acknowledge yet the part that stayed with givens was
08:11still the simplest one seeing the little bird run off everything the officers had done led back to that
08:17movement across the grass with the gosling finally able to reach its mother it was easy to imagine
08:23how differently that break could have ended givens could have treated the pecking as a nuisance left the
08:28food outside and driven away instead the goose's refusal to take it made him reconsider what he was
08:34seeing he did not need to understand every call she made before deciding to follow by the water there was
08:40no need to guess whether that decision had mattered the gosling was back among its family the string that had
08:46held
08:46it in the grass no longer stood between them at first he thought she wanted something to eat by the
08:52time
08:52she returned to the water he understood why she had refused to leave her family was together again
08:57because someone had finally followed
09:00you
