Oddball Goose Spotted At Lake Oconee
A report about a goose with what looked at first like four “legs” being spotted at Lake Oconee’s Wallace Dam certainly raised some eyebrows. When at least three Georgia Power employees saw the oddball goose, and finally got a decent photo, it was time to ask GON about it.
After speaking with WRD, this goose likely doesn’t have additional legs—although extra appendages on critters is a real thing— but likely has a condition called “Angel wing.”
“Matt Deamon saw it first, on June 28,” said Donald Jarrett, who has worked at the Wallace Dam for 18 years. “Then (Georgia Power employee) Bobby Knight and I saw it several days later. I’ve seen it twice now.”
Donald said his sightings came on a private Georgia Power road that crosses the dam.
“The first time I saw it, it was really blowing my mind,” said Donald. “When I saw it a few days later, it was hanging out with seven or eight other geese on the dam. When I got up close in my truck, they all walked down the rip-rap toward the lake and inside the barrels there at the dam. It didn’t have any problem walking down the rip-rap. The extra legs, or whatever they are, were just flapping along as it walked on.”
GON can’t recall ever reporting on a bird with additional legs, although years ago a story was published about a five-legged deer.
“It looks to me like a case of Angel wing, which is caused by a deficiency in certain nutrients in the diet—particularly if the goose consumed a lot of bread during its developmental stages,” said Kara Nitschke, WRD biologist.
Kara turned us on to the Lahontan Audubon Society, which said Angel wing likely happens because of a lack of proper nutrition, and excess carbs in the birds’ diets. The website says, “If a duck or goose gets fed a lot of bread at the local park in which it lives, it won’t need or want to eat any of the aquatic plants, grass or bugs that it naturally eats. Bread, chips and crackers don’t have the nutrition the birds need, and they have much more carbohydrates than the bird would get out of its natural diet. The point is, local ducks and geese will develop unhealthy diets if they are fed bread, and we know that this improper diet is linked to Angel wing.”
Unfortunately, Angel wing is considered a “deadly condition.”
The Lahontan Audubon Society continues, “When a bird gets Angel wing, the ‘wrist joint’ of their wing gets deformed and grows excessively. In more severe cases, the bird affected may lose its ability to fly. When it can’t fly, it can’t escape from danger, which is what makes Angel wing a deadly condition.”
It’s unclear just how rare the condition is. However, Donald has written turkey-hunting articles in GON for 20 years. He turkey hunts every day of the season and is a full-time turkey-hunting guide in South Dakota. He has been around hundreds, if not thousands, of dead turkeys.
“I’ve seen one bird with more than two spurs, but never a bird like this. This is a new one on me.”
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