Hunter, game enjoy 15-year friendship

ZONGULDAK - Anatolia News Agency

Sami Çelik, who shot the goose and injured its wing 15 years ago, has been taking care of the animal since then and loves it like his own child. AA photo

A hunter in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak’s Alaplı district that injured the wing of a baby wild goose when he was hunting 15 years ago but has been taking care of the animal ever since then.

Sami Çelik, 70, shot the goose, injuring its wing 15 years ago; the hunter, however, immediately took pity on the creature, taking it home. Çelik helped heal the goose’s wound, but then chose not to release the bird back into the wild for fear it would be shot by other hunters.

He took care of the goose with his chickens at first before constructing a special house for it. For 15 years, the goose, which he named “Gülüm” (My Rose) has been Çelik’s best friend.

“I love it like my own child. I take care of it like my child, talking to it and walking with it in the garden,” he said.

Çelik said he felt very sorry when he injured the animal. “I took care of it at home for some time and wanted to leave to nature. But I feared that hunters would shoot it and then decided to keep it with me.

It lived with chickens for some time, but they did not like each other, so I made a special place for the goose. I always fed it, showing it special importance. It responds when I called it ‘Gülüm.’

Çelik said the goose also accompanied him when he heads to sea or anywhere else. “People are surprised when they see it. I am really afraid that hunters will shoot it.”