The screams were picked up on the doorbell camera.
The video shows Jory Harris and her roommates rushing to get inside their Waterloo, Ont., home as a Canada goose flies at them.
Harris, a student at Wilfrid Laurier University, has shared a compilation video to TikTok of a pair of “angry” geese attacking people.
“We can’t even leave our house. He’s so angry. There’s now a nest there. So we actually, we just don’t know what to do anymore,” she said of one of the geese.
Harris said that earlier this month, she was coming home from class when she noticed two geese on her lawn. She speculated with her roommates about what would happen if the geese started a nest, but they all assumed the front lawn of a home wouldn’t be an ideal spot for one and the geese would move along.
They were wrong.
“He’s still outside right now, just on our front lawn,” Harris said.
‘The croissants were flying’
Harris’s video shows one friend carrying a box of 20 croissants from Costco that he ends up dropping after a goose runs at him.
“The croissants were flying and then the geese started eating them,” she said.
She said she and her roommates sneak out their side door and into the backyard to avoid the geese, but Harris said they’ve also made popcorn and watched their Ring camera footage as unsuspecting people walk by and are accosted.
“One girl, like, fell into a bush,” Harris said. “They’re all falling and just, they just get right back up and keep running.”
Harris said they have asked local animal control for help to remove the geese, but they’ve been told to be patient and not much can be done.
WATCH | TikTok video shows people running from the nesting geese:
Geese ‘especially protective’ during nesting season
The issue of aggressive geese in Waterloo isn’t new.
In 2015, a turkey was bullied by geese on the University of Waterloo (UW) campus. The turkey flew into a third-floor window of a building and died.
That same year, some students dubbed a particularly aggressive goose the “spawn of Satan” and for several years, someone else at UW created a goose watch map to help others on campus avoid the angry birds.
The Guelph Humane Society recently put out guidelines on how people should deal with Canadian geese in the spring.
The humane society noted that nesting season lasts only a few weeks, but geese can be “especially protective” during that time.
“Geese often choose nesting sites that offer wide, open views to help them spot potential predators. While their choices can sometimes surprise us, these locations offer the safety and visibility they need to successfully raise their goslings,” the society said.
The humane society also shared tips to share space with geese this spring, including:
- Give them space by giving them a wide berth or taking an alternative route.
- Keep dogs on a leash around nests to keep the geese from being stressed.
- Watch for families of geese on the move. They will walk their young to nearby water.
- Be patient, as most nests are active for under a month before geese move along.
The humane society noted Canada geese are protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, which means it is illegal to disturb or move a nest.
Lisa Veit, the humane society’s executive director, said it’s important to remember geese follow their instincts each spring.
“Returning to the same places, building nests and raising their young — it’s a remarkable reminder that nature is all around us, even in busy, urban spaces.”
