A motorist at Greenwood Park Mall waits for a pair of Canada geese to pass in front of a car in the mall’s parking lot on April 14, 2006.
Daily Journal Archive Photo
News from around Johnson County as reported on April 13 in the pages of the Daily Journal and the Franklin Evening Star from the last 111 years.
On this day in 2006, one of the stories on the front page in the Daily Journal was about how geese were “honking off” shoppers.
“Aggressive loiterers are ruffling the feathers of some shoppers and residents on the southside,” the story began. Canada geese, trying to protect their nests, were the culprits of numerous police calls.
At the time, the 20-pound birds were chasing shoppers around the Greenwood Park Mall parking lot and showing up near businesses and homes throughout the county.
The keys to surviving the season of geese: Don’t wait. Act now to get them off your property. And never, never let them see you sweat.
Earlier in April 2006, a woman trying to enter the mall was chased by a goose, causing her to fall. She had to be taken to Community Hospital South, Greenwood Fire Department Emergency Medical Services Chief Darin Hoggatt said.
Injuries from goose attacks are not common in calls to emergency workers, he said. The reason for most goose-related injuries: Scared people falling or running into something when they try to get away from them, said Josh Griffin, Indiana Department of Natural Resources district wildlife biologist.
In most cases, the goose will back down if you show no fear and refuse to run away, he said.
But geese are more aggressive when they are protecting their nests. The longer the goose has been nesting, the more aggressive it will become to project its eggs.
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Other memorable Johnson County stories from this day
2015
Nineteen people were arrested after a drinking party following a police response to a Center Grove-area home.
1994
A fire at the Atterbury Job Corps Center the night before destroyed a dormitory that houses 47 students.
1965
A large crowd of remonstrators was expected at the Johnson County Courthouse as they were expected to hear a controversial liquor permit application for a proposed New Whiteland business.
