Workers at Yonkers-based IHOP look after parking lot geese for third consecutive year
Elena Ozerovsky-Cochrane works with the Center for Wildlife Rescue to protect and learn more about the animals' diet and nesting habits.
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The owner of a Yonkers-based IHOP and her coworkers have become the unofficial guardians of two Canada geese after they designated their permanent nesting spot across the storefront at 2620 Central Park Avenue.
Elena Ozerovsky-Cochrane works with the Center for Wildlife Rescue to protect and learn more about the animals' diet and nesting habits.
"They're a bonded pair. Once they find a spot that they like, they come back every year to lay their eggs. My whole crew, we take care of them. They're our little pets," said Ozerovsky-Cochrane.
Ozerovsky-Cochrane and the rescue provide water and proper nutritional food for the geese.
The challenge is that the birds chose a nesting spot situated at a busy three-way intersection. This year, they've laid at least five eggs.
Each year, the team ropes off the area with caution tape to keep them safe until the eggs hatch.
"Every year, we pick them up, the geese follow us, and we release them in a pond," she said.
Their destination is Crestwood Lake, around a mile away, where there's plenty of green space.
Ozerovsky-Cochrane advises everyone to be careful when coming in and out of the lot, and to admire the birds from a distance so as not to disturb or distress them. She also advised people not to feed the birds, as they require certain food.
Ozerovsky-Cochrane says the birds usually nest for around a month before the goslings hatch.
