We never thought we’d see the day when a dating app for birds became a necessity, yet here we are!
Dorie Tammen is the general manager of Riverside Cemetery in Marshalltown, Iowa. On Facebook, she frequently shares pictures and stories of the wildlife who inhabit the graveyard’s park-like setting, including Blossom, a domestic goose who likes to pop by the office door to say hi (and leave a mess on the doormat!).
Recently, Dorie noticed a change in Blossom’s personality. The bird had just lost her mate, a domestic goose named Bud, and she seemed to be suffering from a broken heart. Instead of visiting Dorie’s office door, Blossom spent a lot of time gazing at her own reflection in a shiny marble headstone.
One thing was clear to Dorie and the other cemetery workers:
“She wanted company,” Dorie said.
That’s when Dorie got the idea to put out a personal ad to find Blossom a new mate! She shared a photo of Blossom and a cute description.
“Lonely, widowed domestic goose seeks life partner for companionship and occasional shenanigans,” stated the Facebook post. “Come share life with me at Riverside Cemetery, where you’ll enjoy swimming in the lovely lake, good food, numerous friends, and peeking in the door of the office building at the strange but kind humans there, who feed us lots of goodies. I’m youthful, adventurous and lively, and I’ve been told I’m beautiful.”
The Facebook post was well-received by their community, and it also worked like a charm! Deb and Randy Hoyt were retiring and moving out of state, and they weren’t sure what to do with their own widower goose, Frankie. Deb said he was “so lonely,” and when they saw Dorie’s ad it felt like the perfect solution!
Frankie was brought to the cemetery for his first “date” with Blossom on Valentine’s Day, but things got off to a bumpy start when Frankie flew off into the woods for an entire day. Staff members worried he was lost for good, but he was found the next day and finally met Blossom.
“She was excited, and flapped her wings and called out,” cemetery staff shared on Facebook. “He was a little less enthusiastic at first, I have to say! But the two of them started walking around, in a bit of a tizzy, and even went out the main gate and across the street.”
Since that first day, the two are never apart.
We love a happy ending, don’t you? Great job thinking of that personal ad, Dorie! This goose romance seems meant to be.
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