On Monday morning, multiple drivers on the westbound Loop 202 Freeway in Mesa called in a suspicious group spotted alongside the freeway: a family of Canadian geese out for a leisurely waddle.
Troopers and Arizona Department of Transportation workers quickly swooped in to assist. Their mission? Herd the wayward birds off the freeway and onto safer ground. The geese, which included three adults and four goslings, were slowly escorted to the nearest exit at Dobson Road.
In other words, they led cops on a wild goose chase.
Dashcam video of this slow-motion parade down the Loop 202 was as adorable as you’d expect, with the flock of three adult geese and five goslings ambling down the freeway with all the speed and urgency of your average Arizona snowbird.
According to DPS, the birds eventually took refuge in the nearby Salt River shortly after exiting the freeway. No humans or birds were injured, Loop 202 traffic wasn’t overly scrambled and the geese were last seen honking in triumph.
As with most geese, peace was never an option.
DPS spokesperson Bart Graves told Phoenix New Times via email that while he couldn’t provide exact statistics, he estimated that similar encounters with animals happen “at least twice, possibly three times a week.”
Local social media users, of course, flocked to the comment section of the video with jokes. One Facebook user asked, “What’s the Canadian Air Force doing in AZ?” while one Instagram user stated, “They are at least going faster than traffic on the SR24 to WB 202 transition.”
Another social media user chimed in with the following: "Driving without rear lights and on the shoulder?? Yeah time for jail and three reckless driving tickets."
