Tame goose chase
Having a gander at feathered star
MEET Hoppy, the goose that caused such a flap around town. Pictured on a day out in his own pram at the Suffolk Markets at Cheltenham on Sunday, Hoppy caught the attention of shoppers and the imagination of Twitter after stained glass artist Liz Dart saw him in the busy streets.
And after our website Gloucestershire Live ran a short story on his adventure, it did not take long for his owner to get in touch and answer some of those burning questions.
David Taylor, 80, lives near Westburyon-severn and is dedicated to his favourite goose.
While the good folk of Worcester might be more used to seeing Hoppy out and about – David regularly takes him there as his wife Ree works at the university – it was Hoppy’s first time in Cheltenham.
Hoppy is so named because he has a congenital problem in his left foot, restricting his mobility.
But his disability means he is one of the best looked-after geese in the country.
“He lives inside with us. said David. “He has his own dog bed that he spends most of his time in. We have two other geese that live outside. They don’t get on with him.”
Hoppy is 18 months old and has been in David and Ree’s care since they hatched them.
And he has no reason to be worried with Christmas just around the corner.
“He’s not going anywhere,” said David. “As long as he’s happy and his quality of life is good, we’ll keep looking after him.”
David and Ree have two bearded collies who are more than happy to share their owner’s affections with Hoppy.
And the stir their trip to Cheltenham caused is by no means a one-off.
“We can barely go anywhere,” said David, who has six grown-up children. “People are stopping us all the time.
“At first they think it’s a baby, then they do a double take and say ‘What?! It’s a goose!’ and they always want a picture. He gets all the attention.” As for Hoppy’s pram - it was bought especially for him, albeit from a charity shop for a relatively small sum. He was first taken out this summer by David to Worcester Racecourse, simply because he thought Hoppy looked sad whenever he was left alone.
“I just felt for him really,” said David. “I’d taken him out in a wheelbarrow on walks around here before and I didn’t like to leave him on his own.
“He flaps around in the house and always winds up getting stuck in a corner somewhere.
“He has a wonderful time when we go out, he absolutely loved it on Sunday. People were coming up and talking to him and he was honking away and smiling back at them.
“My wife gets home at 7pm most days and he lets out the most wonderful honk when she arrives.
And as if all of that wasn’t wonderful enough, they live on Goose Lane.