FAIRHOPE – More than a year after one member of well-known pair of Fairhope park geese disappeared, waterfront visitors are now looking for his crippled mate, who vanished about two weeks ago.
Gigi, a gray Chinese goose, was a common sight at the Fairhope Pier and North Park. Bobbi York, a frequent park visitor, said she last saw Gigi on Aug. 24.
“I went down to check on her because I knew the storms were coming and I wanted to check on her,” York said. “On Monday, I saw her on the beach, and everything was fine.”
That was the last time York saw her.
“Someone told me that early the next morning they saw her swimming. She was way out on the bay, farther than she usually went. With the storms, maybe she just couldn’t get back,” York said. “Maybe she got swept somewhere else and she’s safe, but I don’t know.”
Gigi and her mate, Garfield, were popular with many park visitors. In 2018, York was visiting the park when she heard a goose honking. It was Garfield standing near an injured Gigi, who had been attacked by a fox.
“People had been walking and jogging by and nobody noticed,” York said. “Garfield was calling for help.”
York called Fairhope animal control, who took the goose to a veterinarian. After Gigi had been treated at an animal rehabilitation center, she was brought back to Fairhope. Gigi recovered, but lost the use of her left leg.
York said Garfield waited and was there to greet her when she was brought back to Fairhope.
In May 2019, Garfield disappeared. No one ever learned what happened to him. “When Garfield went missing, there were no feathers, no sign,” York said.
After Garfield vanished, York and other park visitors made a point of watching over his disabled mate.
Before Garfield disappeared, he was the one who would come close to you and she would stand back,” York said. “After he was gone, she stared coming real close to me, rubbed her neck on me. I have been heartbroken. I had a few good cries. My heart is telling me she’s just not coming back.”
Garfield and Gigi have their own Facebook page. York said that if anyone sees a white goose with a disabled left leg to notify the page.
“I’ll never stop watching for her. I still watch for Garfield,” York said. “I’ll always look for her, but my heart is telling me she’s not coming back.”
