Clever goose stops traffic on zebra crossing

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

A clever goose has been snapped using a zebra crossing in a busy town centre.

A flock of geese has lived by the River Nene in March, Cambridgeshire, for more than 11 years and can often been found waddling in and out of shops.

A spokesperson for the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) said the birds were highly intelligent, but they had "never seen geese do this".

Charlie Bedford, 67, who photographed the safety-conscious bird, said: "I thought 'Oh no, he'll be run over', but, calm as you like, he went to the zebra crossing and stepped out - we could not believe it."

He added: "I quickly grabbed my camera and snapped away, the vehicles all stopped and he just waddled on, oblivious to it all.

"We were all in fits of laughter".

Although territorial, the geese seem to be very domesticated, wandering in and out of shops along Broad Street

Mr Bedford photographed the goose - dubbed Gary - holding up traffic at the newly installed zebra crossing on Broad Street.

His image, posted on social media, quickly generated several comments.

Some people claimed to have seen the geese using zebra crossings in other parts of the town, while others believed their droppings could cause hazards.

"There is a well-known goose in the garden of a house by the river in March who is always honking and spitting at passers-by," said Mr Bedford.

"He is very territorial - better than a guard dog - and locals dubbed him 'Gary the goose', so I gave the goose on the zebra crossing the same name.

"It suits a goose."

A goose wanders out of a bakery in March. The BTO says it has never seen examples of geese visiting shops

Others referenced the famous Beatles Abbey Road album cover from 1969, where the band are seen walking a zebra crossing.

"Liverpool had the Beatles, we've got The Geese," said one person.

The BTO spokesperson said they had seen videos of seagulls wandering into shops but were not aware of geese doing the same.

"As for the roads, I expect that they have just learnt that traffic will generally stop when they walk out and I can only imagine that the zebra crossing is a coincidence," they added.

"Perhaps they have discovered that cars are more likely to stop there, and have seen people crossing at that point.

"Many birds are highly intelligent, and certainly some, such as crows and gulls are more than capable of observing and learning such behaviour but, personally, I've never seen geese do this."