These Baby Geese Got Separated From Their Mother and Chose One Human To Trust
A gaggle of baby geese was separated from their mother, which is always sad to hear. But what they found in the form of a new caregiver is melting hearts across the world.
In a new viral animal video, we see a tiny brood of goslings follow and emotionally bond with their rescuer, a young fisherman.
This touching animal rescue video shows the strong attachment young birds can form with a dedicated caregiver. No wonder people can't stop watching!
@abcnews A brood of goslings stranded from their mother were captured swimming beside and clinging to a fisherman in Tjarno, Sweden #abcnews#news
original sound - ABC News - ABC News
Why Baby Geese Bond With Caregivers
We see in the sweet video that the baby geese are clinging to the fisherman, named Alex Corregidor Ellison, who found them in Tjarno, Sweden, while fishing with a friend.
"When I turned around, I saw five baby geese swimming towards us, resulting in them trying to climb all over us, as if we were their mother," Ellison said.
Though the baby geese were reunited with their mother shortly after this, they bonded so fast with Alex and his friend.
Why did that happen so fast?
When goslings are separated from their parents, they immediately look for the next reliable caregiver and form an attachment.
Related: This Goose Ignores 80 MPH Winds Like a Tiny Storm Chaser
Alex and his friend were gentle and sweet-they even made quack sounds!-and clearly were not a threat to these young birds.
The baby geese immediately began to imprint on their surrogate parent, even if it was only for a few minutes.
Ellison smartly realized that their mother was hopefully not too far, so they decided to separate from them.
"We left the babies shortly after so that the mother could return to them, and surely enough, a few minutes later, they were reunited," he told Storyful.
A happy ending for this heartwarming rescue video.
It reminds me a bit of the wonderful 1996 film, Fly Away Home, starring Anna Paquin, in which a gaggle of baby geese, also abandoned by their parent, imprint on a young and somewhat lonely preteen.
Eventually, she and her father decided the geese needed to fly south for the winter, and she did so by guiding them while flying her own plane that looked like a big mama goose.
If you feel like crying a whole lot, then this is the film for you.
SIGN UP to get "pawsitivity" delivered right to your inbox with inspiring & entertaining stories about our furry & feathered friends
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 10:55 AM.