CLARKSVILLE, Ind. (WHAS11) -- It's the video that'll have you talking, but the story behind it might have you watching your back. "Fowl play" is suspected in the attack on a local police officer, but he's ok and this is not what you might imagine at first although it's something to be on the lookout for in your neighborhood.
Thursday, a Clarksville Police Department detective was strolling back into the office when a Canada Goose jumped him sending him scrambling to protect himself.
The detective escaped with little more than a bruised ego, but we learned what this goose was trying to do and why the next few weeks could find you face to face with a feathered foe.
The area near City Center is surrounded by ponds, an attractive spot for dozens of Canada Geese looking for love this spring. Landscapers working nearby were replacing mulch with rock in some areas Friday.
Landscaper, Felipe Ponce, explained, "We are trying to put this rock down so that they don't have no mulch to build their nest because everybody is afraid of being chased.”
The birds are ready to defend their nests, which Felipe has learned the hard way having been chased and bitten.
He joked that, even when you know they’re coming for you, it’s a bit scary.
They've had no attacks reported at Corbett's on Louisville's East Side where “Grumpy Goose” warning signs were spotted by former WHAS 11 Anchor Kelsey Starks.
But all of this lead us to the Louisville Zoo and Lead Bird Keeper Craik Mikel who said he chuckled at the attack video although he sympathized with the detective because he too has found himself in the same position.
Mikel explained the technique we saw in the attack video as "wing slapping.”
"They'll open their wings up and they'll slap you with the broad part of the wing which is a very strong part of the bird, of the wing. They're very strong flyers and they'll use that to try to get you away,” said Mikel.
His advice is, if you see a goose acting grumpy, give the bird some space and know that it's nothing personal.
“No, you can't blame the goose,” said Ponce, “Because they're trying to protect their nest, their kids pretty much.”
Mikel added that the birds are federally protected so people should do their best not to harm the animals.