Watch goslings leap off a building... and land on crash pads

Straits Times Animal Antics

Six goslings had a little help leaving their nest from the staff of the University of Calgary in Canada.

"We set up crash pads so that the goslings on our roof would have a safe landing. Want to see the cutest thing ever?," the University's Outdoor Centre posted on Facebook on Tuesday.

The video was viewed close to 67,000 times as of Wednesday morning.

//

We set up crash pads so that the goslings on our roof would have a safe landing. Want to see the cutest thing ever?

Posted by Calgary Outdoor Centre-University of Calgary on Monday, 11 May 2015

The 29-second clip showed a little gosling leap from the roof of a building onto a crash pad below, then bounce a few times.

It waddled over to its parents, completely unharmed. The height of the Outdoor Center is about 5 metres.

Finlay MacNeill, who is the cross-country ski and paddle programmes co-ordinator with the Outdoor Center, told CBC News that the parents nested above his office in Spring.

But when the babies hatched, they had no way of getting down as they could not fly.

The geese tapped on his window, and honked at him, he said.

The staff at the centre lined the floor below the roof with the springy mats, but it took a while before the goslings mustered up the courage to jump.

chuimin@sph.com.sg

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.