Breastfeeding Mom Rescues Pet Goose From Bald Eagle, Like You Do
Really, this multitasking mother is all of us saving our own pet goose.
If you were standing at your window one morning, groggily nursing your baby, wearing only your underwear, and saw a commotion outside, would you hesitate to intervene?
Cait Oakley, a mother of three and a caretaker of animals on the acre of land she and her family live on in North Saanich, British Columbia, shot right out her front door with her daughter, Willow, still attached to her breast in order to save the family’s pet goose, Frankie, from the clutches of a bald eagle.
In other words: it was just another normal day of parenting as mothers know it.
While she likely knew that there wouldn’t be any human spectators on her property, Oakley probably wasn’t thinking about her doorbell camera, which caught the impressive feat on video. After her husband shared the footage online, Oakley’s unique rescue has gone viral, and was featured on The Late Show With Seth Meyers as “The Kind of Story We Need Right Now” — which, yes, it definitely is.
Oakley, 29, is mom to Ryder, 8, and Rome, 2, in addition to baby Willow, now 5 months old. And if that wasn’t enough to keep her hands full, she cares for the family’s chickens, along with pet goose Frankie who is also there to protect the brood.
“Frankie always comes to our front door when she’s in trouble,” Oakley told Late Night. “She is an alert goose. She’s on the property to do exactly that.”
Oakley knew right away that something was wrong. “Just like moms can tell the different cries of babies, I can tell the different honks of my goose.”
“I went to the front door with Willow latched on me, just thinking, ‘I’ll take a peek out the window,’” Oakley told TODAY. “In that split second the eagle came down and it was at my front door. So I threw the door open. There was nowhere to put Willow down at that point.”
Oakley explained that this wasn’t the first time she’d chased off an animal, and though she doesn’t usually do it while nursing the baby, that didn’t stop her from jumping into action.
“Breastfeeding itself is a full time job. You are constantly having a baby on you and if you have other kids, you’re juggling them,” she said. “This was second nature to me.”
While she’s clearly a nursing pro now, Oakley has shared on Instagram that she was unable to breastfeed her first two children, and worked hard to establish a nursing relationship with Willow, the babe who remained latched during the battle with the bald eagle.
“My first two babies I couldn’t breast feed & I tried (oh how I tried),” Oakley wrote. “When you want something so badly and your body doesn’t do it, it cuts.”
With Willow, Oakley said “I set myself up for success.” She credits a naturopath, oat milk, bone broth, and the medication domperidone, which can boost milk production, with her success this time around.
From the looks of it, we’re guessing that baby Willow also has a nice, strong latch!
