Golden Pond resident Robert Hoffman has been trying to get assistance for a goose entangled in fishing wire at Golden Pond for four days. PHOTO/ROBERT HOFFMAN

A concerned resident of The Communities at Golden Pond has tried to facilitate the rescue of a goose that had been trapped in fishing wire in neighboring Ice House Pond over Labor Day weekend. By late Tuesday afternoon, the goose freed itself, but not without sustaining injuries to its legs.

Resident Robert Hoffman shared a picture of the goose he took at about 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. It showed the goose out of the water and at the edge of the parking lot near the facility’s entrance at 50 West Main Street.

“It has been there for four days now,” said Hoffman, a former newspaper reporter from New York. “It looks like its legs were caught in fishing wire. I hope and pray it’s OK. But it looks badly injured.”

The goose was alive but unresponsive when Hoffman took the picture, he added. He hoped feeding it would revive it.

Hoffman said he and other residents first spotted the bird Saturday struggling at the corner of the pond near the parking lot. He frequently feeds the birds there with bags of oatmeal, which he also gives to neighbors to distribute.

“The goose appears to be medium-sized, not a baby or too big,” he explained. “Every time someone tries to get close, it tries to kind of run away to go into the water.”

He added that it was hard to spot the fishing wire with the combination of the sun’s glare off the pond and the green algae in the water. While he saw the goose once during the day before Tuesday, Hoffman said it was more clearly visible at night.

Hoffman first called the police, who referred him to Bill Proctor, the town’s animal control officer. Proctor tried to help the goose two days ago but was unsuccessful, Hoffman noted.

“He came within 10 minutes of my calling and was very nice,” said Hoffman. “But he didn’t bring a net.”

He did not know whether Proctor would return and expressed concern now that the bird was on land that it needs urgent medical attention. The Independent left a phone message for Proctor.

Hoffman had been receiving advice from fellow residents, who also made phone calls on the goose’s behalf. One woman, a retired employee of 25 years at the state’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, recommended that neighbors make calls there. Another neighbor suggested that Hoffman call the Tufts Wildlife Clinic in North Grafton.

“I’ve been getting good advice,” said Hoffman: “But at this point, it’s very badly injured.”

People were fishing at the facility’s pond over the holiday weekend, according to Hoffman, which may have caused the goose to become entangled in a line.

“People go fishing in there,” he said. “I don’t know what the regulations are, but they do it anyway.”

In a follow-up email to the Independent, Hoffman appealed to the public for help.

“[M]aybe we can find proper person/organization that can help take it away and care for it,” he stated, noting that “a lot of places” only allow him to leave a message. “The bird still needs proper care. They can probably can help catch it by net.”

Added Hoffman “I think people have come to see the bird, but it tends to fly back into the pond with injury when approached.”

“The bird is very scared, and when you get close to it, it flies away, despite injury!” he continued. “So it is very hard to catch.”