'Celebrity' geese to get their own calendar

The British Trust for Ornithology says it has never heard of examples of geese visiting shops

A market town that has become well known for a gaggle of gregarious geese is to have a 2026 calendar produced in their honour.

A flock of domestic white geese, currently numbering about 20, has been roaming around March in Cambridgeshire for over a decade.

The geese waddle around the shopping areas and even use zebra crossings sometimes.

A Facebook page called the Geese Of March has more than 3,000 members, however some residents are not fans of the flock and say there is too much poo around town.

Charlie Bedford said he could not believe his eyes as a goose waddled across the newly installed zebra crossing

Chrissie Fadipe says the geese bring a lot of pleasure to people and a calendar featuring pictures of them will help local animal charities

Chrissie Fadipe, 45, is co-ordinating the new calendar which will feature images captured by the public as part of a photographic competition that runs until mid-September.

"The calendar is going to be funded by sponsorship from local businesses," she said.

The target was to sell 800 calendars at £5 each to raise £4,000 for two local animal charities.

The domesticated/farmyard goose was bred from the wild greylag goose thousands of years ago, the BTO said

Kevin McCourt, 72, says he has seen the geese go into coffee shops and the calendar is "a very good idea"

Kevin McCourt, 72, says he always enjoys seeing the feathery creatures.

"Whoever's doing the training of them is doing a great job; they always use the zebra crossings," he said.

• Listen: Why did the goose cross the road?

A spokeperson for the British Trust for Ornithology previously said many birds were "highly intelligent" and had worked out that zebra crossings could be safe to use.

He added that a couple of the ganders had been named Gary by locals and they could be "a bit aggressive" but that might be because they were protective of the goslings.

Brenda Smith, 65, thinks there are too many geese and they leave a lot of mess with their droppings

However, Brenda Smith, 65, said the idea of a calendar was "disgusting".

"They are a pain; there's that much poo everywhere; it is all over the brand new pavements that have been pedestrianised," she said.

She found the geese "quite intimidating" and they "hiss and honk".

"I've always got my bag with me, so I sort of hold my bag up and that deters them a bit," she said.

Kerry Howard, 43, said her three children loved to see the geese, and would probably "all want a calendar"

Kerry Howard, 43, says she is not too bothered by any deposits the birds leave.

"All animals cause a bit of a mess, but what they bring to the town and the pleasure they bring to the children is worth a little bit of mess," she said.

"It makes me laugh when we're coming back from a school run and it's all very hectic and we're in a rush, but we can't go anywhere because the geese are crossing the road.

"It just makes you think... slow down."

Ms Howard said March had a lovely sense of community and the "geese are just part of that and it's just another nice thing that brings the community together".

The geese are often seen waddling down the High Street and pop into shops using zebra crossings to negotiate the roads