Beloved goose eggs at Independence Center destroyed by hammer-wielding assailant
Each year, Canada geese around the Independence Center mall lay eggs, and employees and customers watch and wait for fluffy goslings to hatch.
Until Monday morning, a clutch of seven eggs sat in a planter reserved for them just outside the mall’s Jared Jewelers location. Mature geese have kept a close eye on the eggs, occasionally honking and hissing at those who have approached.
Tameka Bryant, the mall’s general manager, has dutifully documented the wait on her Facebook page. After the weekend’s storms, she checked in on Monday morning, saw the eggs were still there, and posted some photos for her friends.
Maybe today is the day, she wondered.
Later that morning, she got a call from a Jared employee who told her that someone had driven up outside the store, approached the nest and smashed all the eggs with a hammer. Bryant sat in disbelief.
“I was expecting that call to be the babies are here, not that someone killed a family,” she said.
“What I hope to happen from here is that people understand that laws were broken, and it’s just not right,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever get the answer to why someone would get up, go get a hammer, drive over here and ruin someone else’s property, families, everything. They destroyed a bunch in a matter of a minute.”
She posted a sorrowful note and a picture on the mall’s Facebook page, and comments poured in slamming the assailant.
“The family we were so happy to welcome is now gone,” Bryant wrote. “To the woman who did this, know that we are searching for you. What you did was illegal. It’s a felony!”
The mall notified police and conservation officials, and employees and fans of the geese are hoping investigators will be able to track down the person who attacked the nest.
“Something is wrong with that person,” Bryant said. “That person needs to be prosecuted.”
