Unfair end for fowl friend: Newfoundland town mascot Freda the Goose
dies
Bernice Hillier
| CBC News | Posted: June 8, 2025 8:30 AM | Last Updated: 2
hours ago
Humber Arm South's beloved mascot has died after making
community her home since 2018
Image | Freda-goose-sunset
Caption: Freda the Goose was much loved in Humber Arm South,
N.L. (Submitted by Alison Hackett)
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Residents in Humber Arm South, N.L. could not have predicted
what a visitor to their shores in 2018 would come to mean to
them, but they're honouring her memory.
Freda the Goose died in late May, after what appears to have
been an attack by an eagle while she sat on her nest,
protecting her eggs.
Freda was a snow goose that the community took under its wing
for the past seven years, feeding it, looking out for it, and
enjoying its company.
She was a frequent guest outside of the local fish plant, and
was even known to show up at the nearby Saltbox restaurant,
insistently knocking at its door.
"She'd walk up the steps, and she'd tap her beak on the door,
and they'd let her in," said Gloria O'Connell, a resident and
fish plant worker who took a liking to Freda early on.
"She got to trust us, and she became like our little family
member."
Now, O'Connell said, everyone is missing Freda, who was seen
most mornings at the fish plant parking lot when workers went
on their break.
"She would just amble on in between all the cars, and people
would throw her little snacks. She'd come over, and she'd have
her snack, and she'd squawk at us, and then she'd go on again,"
said O'Connell. "She was a well-loved bird."
Feathers ruffled over misnamed goose
Initially, or so the story goes, people in Humber Arm South
assumed that their downy visitor was a male, and they called
her Fred.
The following spring, in 2019, the goose hadn't been seen for a
few days, so people went looking and discovered he was actually
a she, sitting in a nest with eggs in it.
Image | Freda-goose-town-mascot
Caption: Freda the Goose made her home on the shores of Humber
Arm South for the past seven years. (Submitted by Elizabeth
Curtis)
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From that day onward, after being correctly identified, the
goose named Freda found a special place in the hearts of fish
plant workers, restaurant staff, customers and more.
She became a year-round resident of the municipality,
overwintering on the shoreline under the watchful care of a few
workers in particular who ensured she was fed, kept warm with
blankets when needed, and who would check on her often.
Friend to all
School children at St. Peter's Academy in Benoit's Cove, in
particular, had a fondness for Freda.
Leah Michelin, now in Grade 9, remembers the school bus driver
pointing out the goose when it first showed up in town.
"We would be on the bus home from school, and we would pass the
fish plant every day, and we'd see Freda, or we thought he was
Fred at the time," said Michelin. "We loved it. We got to see
him every day, and everyone would get excited."
Cherry Harbin, vice-principal of St. Peter's Academy, says the
town's resident goose was often the focus of a story or visual
art when the students were given the opportunity.
"We would see it sometimes, if students were doing drawings or
pictures about their community, she would pop up in the
pictures," said Harbin.
Image | memorial-cross-Freda-goose
Caption: A metal cross with a plaque has been erected in memory
of Freda at her final resting place. (Submitted by Lisa
O'Connell)
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Harbin said students even co-wrote a song about Freda during a
visit to the school by Phil Churchill and Geraldine Hollett of
musical trio The Once under the ArtsSmarts program.
Freda was immortalized in song and entrenched as a part of
community folklore.
A goose's swan song
So it was inevitable that word of Freda's passing in late May
spread quickly through the area.
"We're all quite upset about it," said O'Connell. "Everybody
here is in a sombre mood."
"A lot of the kids are really shocked," said Michelin. "Some of
the little kids were sad."
Freda was buried on the beach where she spent most of the past
seven years, along with some corn and bread, two of the things
she loved the most.
On the shoreline, people have erected a metal cross with a
plaque in Freda's memory, to let passersby know that she lived
there and that her spirit has now taken flight.
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