At CF Shops at Don Mills in Toronto, shoppers have recently found themselves witnesses to a quiet love story — and a heartbreaking loss. For weeks, a solitary goose has perched atop the shopping center’s rooftops, waiting for a mate who will never return.
His partner was tragically struck by a car nearby. Since then, the widowed goose has come back daily, circling the mall and watching from above, as if hoping she’ll reappear.
“He looks very sad,” shopper Colin Tobias told Global News. “You can tell he misses his wife. He’s just wandering, searching.”
Employees at nearby stores, like the LCBO, have also noticed his grief. “He lost his partner and now he just looks so depressed,” said Sayad Rasulnezhad. “I actually cried when I saw him.”
Despite brief absences to search for food, the devoted goose always returns to the mall — his silent vigil continuing day after day.
According to wildlife experts, Canada geese often form lifelong bonds with their partners. When one dies, the surviving mate may mourn deeply, making this goose’s lingering sorrow tragically common — but no less moving.
“He’s grieving the only way he knows how,” one observer noted. “By returning to the last place he saw her.”
Many hope this grieving soul will eventually heal — and perhaps, in time, find a new partner and rejoin the rhythms of the wild.
“I think he deserves a second chance,” Tobias added. “Maybe we can help him find that.”
