Wild goose with arrow in its leg seen in Poulsbo

Haze Sommer looked out past her deck toward Liberty Bay early May 19, as she does every morning, but was shocked by what she saw this particular dawn on the lawn of the Windsong Apartments where she lives. An arrow was sticking out of a goose’s leg.

POULSBO — Haze Sommer looked out past her deck toward Liberty Bay early May 19, as she does every morning, but was shocked by what she saw this particular dawn on the lawn of the Windsong Apartments where she lives.

An arrow was sticking out of a goose’s leg.

Sommer called the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and, according to her, she learned there may be up to three geese that have been shot with arrows in the Liberty Bay area.

Sommer said the goose, who was with its mate, can still fly and swim. “She needs medical attention immediately and readers should be warned that people are shooting arrows around here at animals,” she tweeted. “Your pets could be next.”

In a phone interview, Sommer said she’s worried that someone who is using wild animals for target practice “is not going to think twice about shooting a cat. I’m really concerned about that. I don’t want to see pets become a target or a child hit accidentally.”

Sommer said sightings of the injured goose should be reported to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, 877-933-9847. She planned to call West Sound Wildlife Shelter on Bainbridge Island this morning. Poulsbo Deputy Police Chief Andy Pate said Poulsbo police had not received any reports of wildlife shootings, but said it would become a police matter if it proved to be within the city limits.

If you see the injured goose, don’t try to catch it, Sommer said.

“Trying to catch them is going to stress them out,” she said. “They can’t be darted because they metabolize (the tranquilizer drug) differently” or they fly off and can’t be found. She said she was told the goose would have to be tracked and then caught when it’s too weak to fly.

If not caught and treated quickly, the goose will die, she fears.

Cate McCaslin of West Sound Wildlife Shelter believes the goose is the same one her agency has tried to capture so it can be treated.

“We’ve been getting reports of a goose with an arrow in it for several months. All of the sightings are on Liberty Bay near the Scandia area,” she said. “The last report before this one came in just yesterday … If it’s the same goose, we’ve tried to catch it, but it flies away … In order for us to try to again, it would have to be non-flighted. I’ve tried to catch a goose — not this one —and it’s not easy even if it can’t fly. They can run really fast.”

Sommer said the land around the waterfront Windsong Apartments, off Viking Avenue, is like “a tiny little wildlife sanctuary. I’ve seen injured wildlife, but I don’t believe it’s been caused by man — more the natural selection process. But this is the first time I’ve seen an animal that had been shot with an arrow, and I’ve lived here eight years.”

— Terryl Asla of the Herald contributed to this report.