Red Dirt Diaries: Mother Goose Stands Guard At OKC Retirement Community

You can spot Canadian geese all over the Fountains at Canterbury retirement community in northwest Oklahoma City.

But Margaret Hanna is one they call "Mother Goose."

“I can talk goose all day,” said Hanna, who has one of the only units with a large deck.

Like clockwork every year, a Canadian goose comes and lays its eggs in Hanna's flower bed on the deck.

“I go out every morning with my coffee cup and I say good morning to Mildred,” said Hanna.

Mildred is the name Margaret has given the free-loading fowl who spends about a month an half on her deck, waiting for the eggs to hatch.

Canadian geese are creatures of habit and return year after year to same spot to lay eggs, but Margaret questions her feathered friend's longevity.

“After ten years, there's no way that's the same goose,” said Hanna.

You heard right. This has been going on for a decade.

The proof can be seen in Hanna's bird book which documents every Mildred visit with pictures and egg counts. Most recently, Margaret Hanna said Mildred sat on five eggs.

But Hanna wasn't the only one who meddled with Mildred. The entire Fountains at Canterbury community pecked for egg-hatching news.

“Everybody says, 'Call me.' There's no way I can call them because I'm going crazy myself,” said Hanna.

Crazy because even though Margaret is very protective, her deck is actually on the second floor.

The newborn chicks can't fly, so the entire retirement community helps out to get them to safety.

“We take them down to the pond. All of the residents are involved with this,” said Becky Strong, who works at the Fountains at Cantebury.

Until delivery day comes, Mother Goose will be standing guard.

“I love them,” said Hanna.

“I think they trust her, that's why they keep coming back,” added Strong.

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