Happy couple taking nesting duties seriously
Fred's a little protective of Wilma.
Current speculation has it he's a first-time dad, hence his overachieving sense of protectiveness.
Should anyone get within 25 feet of his beloved, he comes at them with guns blazing, so to speak. For Fred, that means beak snapping, webbed feet swinging and surprisingly strong Canada goose wings flapping.
The happy couple are camping free of charge outside P.M. Bedroom Gallery in Naperville while awaiting the arrival of their offspring.
Delivery's expected sometime between the first and second week of May.
Until then, anyone attempting to traverse the parking lot should heed the sawhorses and police tape. Because the geese don't read, they'll readily cross the line at any perceived familial threat, said Jeff Cleasby, Illinois sales manager for the chain.
To date, the tally is geese--5, bloody customers--0.
The first "attack" happened March 29, apparently the same day the happy campers pulled into town. Another regional manager for the furniture store pulled into the parking lot around 8 a.m. and was greeted -- in a not-so-friendly fashion -- right outside his car door.
Realizing that was out of character for your standard goose, he backed up and tried to park elsewhere.
It was made more challenging by the fact that Fred kept reiterating his point by pecking at the man's fenders as he drove away and parked, Cleasby explained.
First blood angered one customer who demanded that a police officer be summoned. Despite the man's insistence the pair be slaughtered on the spot, the officer reiterated migratory Canada geese are indeed afforded federal protection.
The pair's tale has since drawn media attention, additional shoppers at the store, and friendly -- if not cautious -- spectators.
Their nest is about four feet away from a double-pane window, allowing customers a rare insight to their world of parenting.
Both Fred and Wilma generally have figured out that charging children and adults on the other side of glass doesn't net many rewards.
"Recently, they've come to the understanding they're not getting anywhere," Cleasby joked.
The store's even gotten into the spirit of the event, what with it being an impending arrival and all. They're holding a contest to select the best or most creative name for one of the potential goslings.
One winner gets a Mirropane television, which when not being used as a flat panel TV has the appearance of a mirror.
Given the pair's desire to remain undetectable, something of that ilk just might be the perfect gift for the expectant parents.