[film projector rattling]
[soft classical music]
[keyboard clacking]
NARRATOR: The unknown.
The unexpected.
The world stopped,
and we withdrew.
Behind masks,
behind closed doors,
not knowing when
we would reemerge.
Heroes appeared.
And they faced the challenge.
We were isolated.
Alone.
But life?
It can truly surprise you.
When you least expect it.
And offer hope.
[Cheryl imitating goose honking]
Honk, come here.
Honk, Honk.
Here he comes.
- Come here! Come on!
- [Honk honking]
[Cheryl imitating goose honking]
Hi!
[Honk honking]
Hi!
Come on, hi!
Come on up here.
[Honk honking]
NARRATOR: And sometimes, that
hope that you are looking for?
Is in the form of a goose.
[Honk honking]
CHERYL: How did I meet Honk?
I will never forget.
I was taking a walk along a park
that's in my neighborhood.
It opens up into
a really beautiful pond.
And, I had started
taking these walks every day
because everything was
shutting down in Dallas,
and, my gosh,
cities across the country.
And we were wearing masks,
and we're social distancing,
and we're not supposed
to see our family or friends,
and everyone's working from home
and it was such a confusing
and scary time.
And the one thing that,
you know, um,
was being recommended was,
you know, go outside,
and, you know,
you could take a...
take a socially distant walk.
So, that's what I did.
I thought, "Well I'm... You know,
I'm gonna start taking walks.
"Mentally and physically,
it'll be good for me."
I live in an area that has
some really beautiful parks.
I was taking
a walk along the creek, uh,
that runs through the park,
and then it opens up
into this really beautiful pond.
And I was sitting there,
you know, taking in the pond,
and, um, taking a picture.
And all of a sudden,
I hear this...
this like,
bizarre honking sound.
I never heard
anything like it before.
And I turn,
and I see this goose,
running as fast as he can,
directly towards me.
And, uh, I was really...
You know, it freaked me out.
I started to kinda
run away from him.
I mean, I didn't know
what he was gonna do.
I... And I have to tell you,
I've never been around a goose.
I'm a city girl,
and I was like, you know,
kinda just sort of froze,
and he came up to me,
honking, honking, honking,
like he knew me.
I immediately,
you know, had my phone,
and started videoing him
and taking a picture.
So, I'm on a walk,
and this little one is not
practicing social
distancing at all.
Are you lonely
and missing people?
Huh?
- [Honk honking]
- Yeah, I hear ya.
It's tough, innit?
- [Honk honking]
- I know.
It'll end soon.
And I kinda talked to him
for a little bit.
And then, you know,
started to head back home.
And he starts following me.
And I cross the street to where,
you know, to head home,
and he crosses
the street after me
and starts running in the middle
of the street, in traffic.
And [laughs], I mean, cars
are stopping, it's a spectacle.
And I was, like,
"I can't leave this goose
in the middle of the street,
"chasing me,"
so I turned around,
and I guided him
back to the park.
I kinda coaxed him down
by the water, and he went in,
and was bathing a little bit,
and you know,
when he was sort of,
had his head under the water,
I ran, and I literally
hid behind a bush.
And he looked around,
he started honking,
he seemed a little panicked,
and then he went about his day.
He went... He swam off.
So I headed home and, uh,
I just could not get this goose
out of my head.
I mean, it was
the most bizarre thing
that had ever happened to me.
So, I went back the next day
and found him,
you know, swimming in the pond.
And I just started
to kind of call for him.
I made this honking sound, and...
and I'm sure people thought
I was crazy,
but, um, he immediately,
his head perks up,
and he starts honking, and he
swims as fast as he can to me.
So, I'm here to see Honk,
and I wanted to introduce you.
I just called for him,
and he's going nuts.
Honk! Come on, baby!
Swim across.
He's coming.
Come on!
Honk!
Here he comes.
[Honk honking]
Can you see him?
Here he comes.
Come on, Honk.
Let me try to turn this around.
Aw, I missed you.
Hi, Honk.
Hi!
I know!
How are you?
Oh, my God, he's so cute,
isn't he guys? Look.
Hi Honk! These are my friends.
You get to meet them
on Facebook.
I told them all about you.
Oh, look,
he's drawing his wings.
[Cheryl gasps]
You're so pretty.
I kid you not,
he was across the pond.
All I do is say,
"Honk, Honk," and here he comes.
I just met this goose,
two days ago.
I started calling him Honk
because he talks so much
and so loud.
And we kind of just sat there
for the afternoon,
and he wouldn't leave my side.
I had posted some videos and
pictures of Honk on Facebook,
and I sent it to my friend,
Judy, who lives in New York.
And she's a big animal rights
activist and animal lover,
and she immediately said,
"Cheryl,
that's a domestic goose.
"That goose does not belong
at a park."
And I'm like, "What does that
even mean, a domestic goose?"
And she said, "Oh, it was
probably raised on a farm,
"but it can't fly."
That... It looks
like a Toulouse Goose
was the kind of goose Honk is.
And I was like,
"Well, how did he get there?"
And she goes, "Well,
probably somebody dumped him."
And I'm like, "What?"
And like, I had never
even heard of that.
I had never... I was so ignorant.
I had never even heard
about dumping ducks.
So Judy really said, "You know,
you need to think about
"possibly getting him
to a sanctuary."
And, I didn't know the first
thing about doing that,
so she recommended
that I call a friend of hers
named Mary Beth,
who does a lot of rescues
in the New York area.
I wanted to talk to you today
to kind of just give you
an update of...
of where I am with Honk.
So, since the last time
we corresponded,
I know you... you were really,
strongly, encouraging me
to relocate him to...
to an animal sanctuary
or a rescue for his own safety
and well-being.
Um, since then,
I have found out...
And, you know, I go to the park
almost every day
to visit him,
and I was talking to...
to some other park goers.
So, they have told me
that he has a mate.
- [Cheryl scoffing]
- Right?
And I was like, "Well,
I have never seen this mate."
And apparently
she's a white goose,
which that would
be domestic, right?
Yeah. Unless it was
a snow goose.
But if... if it's with him,
I'm sure it's a...
it's a domestic goose.
They were
probably dumped together.
Oh, God. Okay.
Well, I've never seen her,
but they said that
a lot of times during this...
this time of year,
that she's up the creek,
usually sitting on a nest.
So here's sort
of my predicament now.
I don't want to... to try to
relocate him without his mate,
if he does have a mate.
Um, and to add a little bit
of more stress on to this,
you know, I've been posting
a lot of videos of Honk and I.
We have this great camaraderie
with each other.
You know,
he sits over my shoulder,
and he just talks
while we do these videos.
So, he's gone a bit viral.
We've been on the news,
uh, his videos are going viral,
and he's getting pretty
well-known,
especially in this area.
We just got off an interview
with The Dodo!
Now, for those of you who
don't know what The Dodo is,
it's a big media company
out of New York
that does all
of the amazing animal videos
that are so cute
on social media.
They have 25 million followers
and their videos get
hundreds of thousands of views.
And they wanted
to interview this guy.
- Didn't they? Yes! Yes!
- [Honk honking]
Oh, and he did so well.
Didn't you? Did you do good?
- [Honk honking]
- Yeah. God, he did really good.
I was being contacted
by some schools
that were having to have
virtual learning, you know,
the kids were at home.
But Honk and I, you know, are
Zooming with school children,
and talking about our story.
And, you know,
here's Honk, you know,
he would sit like right up
over my shoulder.
He looked like a little muppet.
And the kids loved it.
[Mary Beth]
Well, you know what?
Now you've got... you've got
a couple of things going on.
He's not wild, and if he has
that mate, she's not wild.
Um, to remove him now,
that you found out that he has a
mate would not be a good thing.
You have to find out
where the mate is.
See if you can find
where that nest is.
If she's laid eggs,
then you've got another issue.
You know,
you don't want to remove them
and then leave the eggs.
Um, it's a... it's a sticky
situation coupled with,
like you just said,
he's going viral.
He's... he's becoming this
incredible ambassador
to so many others
that are found in parks.
But you've got the issue
of him being so popular now,
and people know where he is.
That's creating more of a danger
for him, and that scares me.
So, um, and [indistinct] me.
So what you really need to do is
find out if there is a mate,
where she is, and then
maybe take it from there.
CHERYL: With that knowledge,
I thought,
"Well, I'm not going
to try to rescue Honk or...
"or get him to a sanctuary,"
uh, with knowing that
he had a mate there.
So, I just started
hanging out with Honk every day.
And I noticed
that his surroundings,
there was so much trash
in the pond
and along the bank and...
and in the grass
from where people have,
you know,
picnics and things like that.
And so one day,
I brought a trash bag
and Honk followed me
around the entire pond,
cleaning up his environment.
So, I got that.
That could easily
go in his foot.
He could eat it.
It could get stuck in his
throat, which would k*ll him.
It's just, uh, so concerning.
I gotta... I gotta look
for a home for him.
- Definitely.
- [Honk honking]
We did good.
We picked up all the trash.
Let's go throw it away now,
come on, let's go.
- [Honk honking]
- Let's go. Come on!
[Honk honking]
It was amazing.
People were stopping
and talking to us
because here I am,
cleaning up this trash
and this goose is
sort of overseeing it.
You know,
he's honking at me, you know,
like telling me if I'm doing it
right or something.
And so, those were our days.
We've just spent an hour
and a half cleaning up trash
along the creek.
And I have to tell you,
I brought a 40 gallon trash bag
and I filled it up.
It's crazy.
I, uh... What did we pick up?
An umbrella, tons of Styrofoam.
A pin, caps,
plastic bottles, um,
tons of fishing lures
and hooks and lines.
But Honk walked with me
the entire way.
And, you know,
setting an example
to clean up
after ourselves, right?
[Honk honking]
Yeah, see, he feels
very passionate about it, woo!
People will buy these little...
They call them Easter ducks,
the little baby ducks for their
kids at Easter or as a gift.
And it's really cute,
and then the duck grows up,
and it's hard to keep, you know,
it takes a lot to have a duck.
And so, they'll take them
to a park or a pond,
and then they'll leave them
there to live out their life.
And they're not doing it
to be mean,
it's really they...
they're ignorant about it.
They don't realize
that that's not good
because these ducks or geese
have been raised as pets or...
or a farm animal.
They're used to being taken
care of, used to being fed.
So the one thing about when
people dump ducks and geese is,
um, their nutrition.
And geese eat grass,
and that's where the majority
of their nutrition comes from.
But, you know, of course,
kids and families
love to feed them bread,
uh, and that's
like junk food to geese.
It's not good for them.
It has no nutritional value.
And what it does
is it fills them up,
and then they don't eat
the rest of the day.
A lot of times these
domestic geese, like Honk,
their diet will be supplemented
with some waterfowl pellets.
And that's what I have here.
And they're really nutritional,
with a great balance
of protein and different things.
So he loves it.
So this is actually
very healthy for him.
And then they have to deal
with things
that can happen in the wild,
whether it, you know, be a dog
that could get off its leash
and... and go after them,
hurt them,
um, unfortunately, humans.
So it's Memorial Day weekend,
and I was driving over
to see Honk
and there's some people
having picnics here
and there was one group of
about 25, maybe 30 young adults.
They look maybe mid, late 20s,
um, drinking pretty heavily.
I hadn't even
gotten out of my car yet
and I saw Honk walking
along the shoreline of the...
the creek
and the guys went over there,
started taunting him
and, you know, trying to...
to act aggressive towards him.
They weren't touching him,
but they wanted Honk...
They were trying to provoke him
to start to come at 'em.
Honk was, um,
obviously distressed.
And so I got out and, you know,
pretty much made a scene.
A lot of fishermen
fish in these ponds and...
and these ducks
and geese will get wrapped up
in fishing line or... or a hook.
He stepped on fishing wire,
and it wrapped around his foot.
So I was here, and I was
able to get it off of him.
But what if I wasn't?
We got to do better people.
Person that dumped him,
or him and the mate, I...
You know, I don't think
it was a malicious thing.
Most times it's not.
I think people just
don't understand that,
"Oh, wait a minute,
this is not a wild bird."
- Right.
- You know,
can't take care of themselves.
They need us. That's domestic
animals, live close to humans
because they depend on humans
for survival.
Some geese that are dumped
in these city parks
or wherever are stuck there,
and they are bred
like the ducks.
A lot of the ducks, the geese,
they're bred for food.
They're too heavy.
They're not... Physiologically,
they're different.
They can't fly.
So once you dump these domestic,
it's like
dumping your cat or dog.
That's what a domestic animal
is different
from a wild animal.
So Honk would be
like a farm animal.
Exactly. He's a farm animal.
CHERYL: I went
every day to visit Honk.
And it was obvious
he needed me and was lonely.
Close your eyes,
close your eyes
Close your eyes
little Honk
Close your eyes, now,
close your eyes
'Cause it's time
to go to sleep
Close your eyes,
close your eyes
Close your eyes,
little goose
Close your eyes, now,
close your eyes
And time to dream
Sweet dreams
I just sang him to sleep.
So during this time when...
when Honk was going viral
and being... Becoming this,
you know,
little celebrity goose,
um, I had still never seen
this white goose that...
that everyone was telling me
at the park was his mate.
So the more popular Honk got,
the more worried
I got that I needed to...
to get him to some type
of safe sanctuary.
Also, he was very lonely.
I could tell he was lonely, um,
and so I went
searching up the creek one day.
So, when I first met Honk,
um, you know,
I was told by many people
that he had a mate,
and it was a white goose.
So I started to kind of do
a little investigation myself.
And I've been walking
in a lot of the wooded areas
of the creek.
And today, I found her
and her remains,
and she was on a nest.
[Cheryl sighing]
And I just feel so bad for him.
People have sent me
pictures of them together
and my God, they were
inseparable, everybody said.
So, that's the update.
[nature din]
[somber piano instrumental]
In talking to some other
neighbors that visited the pond,
they said they had seen her
back in March,
and she had, like,
a lump on her throat.
And so she could have swallowed
some type of foreign object,
maybe a, you know,
a fishing bobber, or lure,
or something like that
and it lodged in her throat.
He latched on to me
as sort of his person
while he was grieving.
So I came to visit Honk today,
and I find him in the street,
drinking water from the street.
This is why
I have to find him a home.
- [Honk honking]
- Honey, honey, it's okay.
You deserve better.
Come on, let's go.
We gotta get him
back to the park.
Come on. Come on. Come on.
Let's go.
As soon as I knew, you know,
knew that he was alone,
I... I knew right away
that I needed to find him
a safe place to be.
So, I started researching
different types
of animal rescues
and sanctuaries
in the Dallas area.
So I'm on my way to the Rogers
Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.
I talked with Kathy Rogers,
who is the founder of it,
and she's very well known
in our area. She's amazing.
She rehabilitates wild birds
and is able to re release them.
And she also has about 15, uh,
15 to 20 domestic geese
and lots of ducks there
on her property.
So, um, you know,
it's like a duck heaven.
So I'm going to see
if it's a good fit for Honk.
She's already said that
she'd be willing to take him.
And it's only 20 minutes
from where I live,
so I would be able to visit him
and even volunteer
for the center.
So, I'm really excited
and, you know,
can't wait to... to meet her
because this would be
really, really huge for Honk.
And the most important thing is,
well, two things.
Number one, he's safe.
And number two,
he would have lots of friends
because he definitely
needs that.
So we'll see.
KATHY: The reason
I started doing this is
I have a love of animals, all
animals, but especially birds.
And it started back
in the early '80s
when a young neighborhood boy
brought me
a tiny morning dove.
And I knew nothing about birds,
that kind of care.
And it seemed like
a challenge, which I took on.
And it has grown over the years
to become close
to six thousand birds a year
come through the rehab center.
And it's, uh,
a labor of love, no doubt,
and I have
a fantastic team of people
that absolutely are committed
and have the same love
and devotion that I do, which
is what makes it successful.
There's two kinds of birds,
the domestic birds
and the wild birds.
And it's true with waterfowl,
there's the wild ducks
and geese.
And then there's
the domestic ones
that everybody has
on their neighborhood pond.
The ones that are purchased
for Easter gifts,
which couldn't be
a worse gift to give a child
because then it usually gets
dumped at the neighborhood pond
or lake, and it's totally
ill-equipped to survive
in the wild.
No skills, imprinted to people,
depend on people for food
and for safety,
and things usually
do not end well for them.
The misconception with birds,
I have found over the years,
is people are not aware
that they can form emotional
attachments, and usually do.
And I hear more than once,
"Oh, that bird doesn't
know one person from the next."
And... Which is
completely not true
because somebody
can walk up to the cage
or to their enclosure, and they
react in a positive way,
or they just turn and walk away.
So they totally know people.
So when an animal is dumped,
you're separating him
from his family, basically.
And it's a whole adjustment
for them to, you know,
first they go through sadness
and then they go...
And you can see it, and some
birds pick their feathers.
There's all kinds of psychotic
behaviors that happen.
Some get very aggressive
just out of sheer frustration.
And it's... it's a problem.
It's not just cats and dogs
that get sad and depressed,
and who knows what else happens,
but birds are very,
very sensitive to everything.
The emotional attachment
cannot help but grow
because when
the animals come into us,
they come with a problem.
We wouldn't get them
if everything in their world
was perfectly fine.
We get them because
they have either been abused
or they're in a situation
where they're in danger,
or just a myriad of reasons.
But, our goal is to get them
back to a situation mentally
and physically where
they can survive and be happy.
And sometimes, and it's
just like with children,
the process is long and arduous,
and it's, uh,
you do get attached to 'em
because you have
an emotional investment,
and what people don't realize
is these animals
attach to people as well.
I have to say, and this is
not necessarily a good thing,
but I have never
turned a bird away, ever.
There's always room
for one more.
You just make it happen.
This is Pearl,
I've named her Pearl.
She's an Easter duck
that was dumped in the park.
Somebody saw the, the, uh...
The owners pulled up,
dumped her out of the car.
So another car came up
and got her, and brought here,
to the Rogers Wildlife
Rehabilitation Center.
Now she's going to be okay.
But look,
she don't know she's a duck.
This is why it's not good
to dump domestic ducks.
Just stop buying 'em,
for God's sakes.
KATHY: So the domestic animals
that are brought into us
are allowed to roam free
during the day
and swim on our lake,
and then we put them up at night
to keep them safe
from predators.
That's how I get them into
a protected shelter every night.
We let 'em out,
roam around during the day,
and now we put them up at night.
Let's go home!
Everybody, let's go!
[honking and quacking]
RUSTY: Left turn, let's go.
- [Rusty shouting]
- [honking and quacking]
[upbeat acoustic instrumental]
[rooster crowing]
CHERYL: If I could freeze time,
I would.
I would freeze time
right here with you.
[water splashing]
But that wouldn't be good
for you, no.
I'mma get you
into a beautiful place.
You're gonna be so happy!
- [Cheryl gasping]
- [Honk honking]
Yes, yes, yes!
Oh, it's gonna be so great.
It's gonna be so great.
I did not sleep the night before
I was going to rescue him.
I was, you know, I was scared.
I thought,
"Oh, he's gonna be so scared."
And what happens if I can't
get him? And all of this.
And so, I went...
I went with a couple of friends
and had a crate, so I could,
you know, he'd be safe.
I went down
and was trying to feed him
some waterfowl pellets
that he likes,
which is good for him
that I had bought.
I just swept him up
as fast as I could,
you know, held his little neck.
And it was like,
"It's okay. It's okay."
And I think he was
just sort of shocked.
And, um, I got him in the crate,
and we got him in
the backseat safely and,
you know, headed off.
I got Honk. He's safe,
we have him now in the carrier,
and we're going to take him
to his new home.
[automated voice]
Starting route
to Rogers Wildlife
Rehabilitation Center.
There we go, we're starting
route to Rogers Wildlife.
When we got there, and I started
to pull his crate out,
I picked him up
and started to carry him,
and they wanted me
to put him in this,
you know, pretty good
size outdoor enclosure first,
so he could, you know, get
used to the surroundings and...
and the other geese
and ducks could see him,
but... but there would
be a little protection,
you know,
so to kind of introduce him.
And, when I put Honk in there,
I went in there with him
and the geese started, you know,
honking and honking
and honking and talking to him.
And sweet little
Honk's little neck perked up,
and he started looking,
and he started honking back.
And it was the most beautiful
thing because here he was.
He was talking to his people,
you know, his kind.
And it was,
it was really incredible.
And so, it was hard
to leave him.
I think all the stress
of feeling responsible
for this goose
and wanting to protect him,
I think all this...
all this, you know,
emotion came rushing out of me
and I just started crying.
So I just said goodbye to Honk,
um, even though I'm gonna get
to come and visit him a lot.
And, um, I mean, I could
come every day if I want.
But, um, you know,
it's just really, really hard.
It's been a long two months,
and I love him so much.
And it was a lot of pressure
to try to figure out
what was best for him, but
I know he was so lonely and...
and he needed to be around
other geese like him.
I immediately saw him perk up
when he heard all
of these geese honking, um,
and that's great
because day after day,
I would sit with him at
the creek, and he would call,
and he was calling out,
and I know he was calling
for his mate that had d*ed.
So, he's... he's good now,
but it's, you know,
it's just really hard, um,
but, ah yeah, I'm glad that
he's gonna be happy and safe.
KATHY: When Honk
first came, he had...
he was grieving
the loss of his mate,
which was a white goose.
And as it turns out,
the day he got here,
we had the week
before gotten a goose.
And she happened to be the
replacement for the white goose.
And it was Honk and Brenda.
They're a mated pair, except
when Cheryl's here, then that...
All bets are off.
But the story
has come full circle,
and Honk has a girlfriend
that is a beautiful white goose.
So, let me tell you
what's going on here with Honk.
- [Honk honking]
- There he is in the back,
he was eating his watermelon
I brought him.
He's got another woman
in his life.
Here she is, Brenda.
And you can tell he likes her,
and she's white,
like the goose mate
that he lost at the park.
It's been kind of
an interesting,
uh, journey with him
because he and Cheryl
already had a relationship
with a great following,
and that following has
kind of moved on to Rogers
and given his followers
kind of an...
an insight and a glimpse into,
not only Honk's life,
but kind of what goes on
at the rehab center
and how it all
kind of works together.
And it has been fantastic that,
because they love him so much,
that we get donations from them
when we need help
with certain items.
And the concern
that people have for him
and what's going on in his life,
it's really been a good thing
for everyone, I think.
I had started
an Instagram page for Honk,
and he went from, I think
it was like 700 followers
to all of a sudden
it was 10,000.
And then, you know,
couple of hours later,
it's 15,000, then it's 20,000.
So as of now, Honk has almost
80,000 followers on Instagram.
I was blown away
with some of the fan art
that I've received.
Oh, my goodness.
People, incredible artists,
have painted Honk's portrait.
They've done animated videos,
drawings of Honk.
I've had little kids who
have colored pictures of Honk
for their school
or done a school project,
and one little girl
did her project about Honk,
and they sent pictures.
And so, that's amazing.
You know, that's incredible
what this news has done.
Hi, my name is Jennifer
and Honk's story reached
all the way over to Perth
in Western Australia.
I remember the day
that I saw Honk's story.
I remember we were in lockdown.
The world was
a very scary place.
It was unprecedented.
We didn't know
what was happening
from one minute to the other.
It was a very scary time,
and it was just so nice
to be involved in a story
and see it unfold.
And I know that every day,
I would check
the Instagram stories
and see if there was an update
and check that Honk was okay,
and it's just really
raised my spirits,
and I think it gave hope
to a lot of people.
And it was just...
You felt so isolated,
and it was just nice to...
to kind of feel
like you can connect
to watch the story unfold,
and I really appreciated
being able to follow along
on the journey.
And I'm glad that his
story is going to be told
because I think it
will bring awareness
and I think more people
need to know about Honk
because I absolutely love Honk.
My hope always is,
after 40 years of doing this,
that people will find it
in their hearts to be kind.
To be mindful of animals,
predicaments
and the situations they're in
that they have no control over.
They've been
put there by people,
and they suffer sometimes
because of that.
But there's always people that
are kind and willing to help.
They want to help.
They get very distressed when
they see an animal in distress
and just don't know what to do.
Get 'em and bring 'em.
There's always
somebody that will help,
and it's just
a matter of finding that person.
And just to
illustrate that point,
Honk having been here
for one year
and seeing people
all day and seeing geese
and ducks all day
by the hundreds, and he...
he interacts with us.
But when Cheryl comes,
it's a whole 'nother show.
He goes crazy,
he loses his mind.
He starts honking,
he runs to her for attention
and petting
and trying to get in her lap.
And I mean, who would think that
a goose would know anything?
One person from the next,
or even care?
But all you have to do
is watch it, and you'll see.
CHERYL: This goose
needed rescuing, you know?
And I kinda felt like
my purpose was to save him.
And what I didn't realize
was that he was really saving me
during this whole time.
You know, it was, um, you know,
it was emotionally hard
when things were shutting down.
We... we didn't know much
about COVID.
And, um, you know,
I couldn't go see my parents
or family members or my friends.
So, there was a real
loneliness that was happening.
And Honk became the friend
that I went and met at the park.
And we'd sit together,
and I would just talk to him.
And it was really,
it was really beautiful,
this friendship that happened,
um, it was unexpected.
He was my therapist
and my best... my best friend.
And... and he still is.
And I think that when Honk's
popularity started growing,
I started realizing that he's
doing the same thing for them
that he did for me
because they were
looking forward
to seeing his videos every day
or seeing his picture
or seeing something fun
that Honk was doing.
This little goose was
giving them some joy
and them, you know,
a reason to feel positive, and...
and happy during
a really tough time.
And you know what?
In a time where there was,
you know,
there was a lot of divisiveness
in the world and, you know,
that... that was just a fact.
And this goose had no agenda.
No agenda but love.
And, you know,
it almost makes me cry
because, well it does
obviously make me cry,
but because people needed that.
People needed to feel
that kind of love,
that unconditional love
and that just, that, um,
beautiful, beautiful energy
from this goose,
and he really
brought many people together.
[Honk honking]
[somber orchestral instrumental]
I wanted to let you all know
that our beloved
and much loved goose, Honk,
passed away late afternoon
yesterday in his sleep.
I know this is a huge shock
to all who loved him
all over the world.
He just went to take a nap
on his favorite pile of leaves
in the sun,
and they found him
peacefully passed away.
I was with Honk yesterday,
and I'm so grateful for that.
I spent over two hours with him.
He cannot get close enough.
I mean, have you ever heard
about personal space?
This is my personal space.
And, listen, you didn't
ask me if you could kiss me.
[Honk honking]
Hello? You need
to ask permission!
This little goose has paid it
forward in so many ways
that I could
have never imagined.
His spirit,
and what he stands for,
is gonna continue
to live on through this film,
and through
the children's books that...
that were, you know, so amazing
that I was able to have
these children's books published
through the generosity
of... of grants
from a beautiful organization
here in Dallas.
His story will live on
and educate children,
and give joy for years and years
and years and years to come.
And that's...
that's Honk's legacy.
It's so surreal.
Um, I'm heading out
to Roger's Wildlife
for the first time
since Honk passed
[Cheryl sighing]
Boy, I think I've only been
out here one time
without him here,
and that was when I first came
to check out the place
before I rescued him.
[Cheryl sighing]
I don't, I'm...
So many emotions going on.
But it'll be good.
I mean,
I really need to see them,
and I think they need to see
me too, and just be together.
[soft piano instrumental]
This one... one person,
I want to share this with you.
They said, "I will never look
at a goose the same again.
"My eyes and heart
have been opened."
And I think that
was the goal, you know,
in making this film.
It was the goal
with the children's books,
um, for people to see birds
and waterfowl like this,
and as you've mentioned
before about, um, you know,
them having emotions
just like a dog and cat.
KATHY: I can tell you,
after dealing with
hundreds of thousands of them
over 40 years,
it's... it's real obvious.
- CHERYL: Yeah.
- KATHY: It's really obvious.
You show that love to
any animal or human, any person.
You show love, you get love.
That's what Honk was about.
I think it's important
for adults as well as children
to remember that
the pain that we feel
when we lose our beloved pet,
is the price we pay
for letting them in our lives.
And it's... As hard as it is,
the joy that they give us
and the memories that we have
that will last a lifetime,
make it worthwhile.
Maybe that was Honk's
last great lesson, you know,
to... to all of us, was that the
love does outweigh the grief.
We had so many
incredible comments,
um, this, I think,
is really profound.
Says, "It's not the goose.
"It's the connection to him,
the love that grew,
"the love that united
so many everywhere.
"It's the confirmation
that pure love does exist
"and can be packed
"in a small, two webbed
footed bird that honked.
"It was more than the animal.
It was love. It was Honk."
- That's it, that says it.
- That's it, that's our Honk.
[Honk honking]
Hi. Hi.
[Honk honking]
Take a step back,
look around
I'm going 'round
in circles
With my feet
back on the ground
Feel the warm sun
on my skin
The world's so big,
so much to see
It's a good day to begin
Ooh
Ooh
Hey, let's sail away
Let's pretend
we're born again
Ooh, oh, ooh, oh
Ooh, oh, ooh
Hey, let's fly away
See the sunrise
every day
Ooh, oh, ooh, oh
Ooh, oh, ooh
It's a good day to begin
[Honk honking]
You're precious.
I love you! I love you!
- [Honk honking]
- Yes, yes, yes!
[Honk honking]
Think about
where we have been
The joy we shared
with friends who care
And all the things
we've seen
Ooh
Ooh
Hey, let's sail away
Let's pretend
we're born again
Ooh, oh, ooh, oh
Ooh, oh, ooh
Hey, let's fly away
See the sunrise
every day
Ooh, oh, ooh, oh
Ooh, oh, ooh
It's a good day to begin
[Honk honking]