A goose, who has become quite the local celebrity, has been removed from Douglas harbour and will be going to a new home after what may have been over 20 years living in the area.

The bird who goes by many names – but ‘Goose Willis’ is the one to have stuck for Manx Wild Bird Aid – was found at the weekend ‘acting oddly’ as he was limping and wouldn’t go in the water, so MWBA was contacted to collect him, according to the charity.

Upon examination, it was found the goose had a number of sores on its feet caused by a disease called bumblefoot.

The charity said that due to the severity of the condition, MWBA admitted the goose into its care, as if it had been left untreated the infection would have spread to the bone or caused fatal sepsis.

Barbara Cole, co-founder of the charity, said Goose Willis was doing very well following a visit from the vet and MWBA is looking into a new home for him.

She said: ‘His feet were most likely in that state because he was walking up and down concrete all the time.

‘It sounds like he’s been around for about 25 years from all the people we’ve heard from with stories on him.

‘I’ve never known a goose with so many names, everyone online is saying “I call it this, I call it that”.

‘He’s really got them all wrapped around his little beak.

‘I don’t know why he wasn’t going in the harbour, maybe because of how well fed he was outside the harbour.

‘He loves Cheerios apparently, so somebody’s feeding him Cheerios and someone else was feeding him the best food and duck mixture they could find.

‘Everybody was giving him their own names and feeding him, and he’s very vocal.’

In a post on social media, the charity stated that ‘while necessary, it was also a little sad’ to be taking him away.

‘By all accounts he’s lived there for a long time and as a domesticated species, probably dumped at some point, it’s illegal for us to return him,’ the post said.

Mrs Cole explained why the charity wouldn’t be able to return him to the harbour once he’d recovered.

‘These white geese are actually farmyard geese. I don’t know how he got there all those years ago, I don’t have too much knowledge of him,’ Mrs Cole said.

‘There seems to be a lot of people who know a lot about him, even our volunteers all know him and have different names for him.

‘Even if we were allowed to put him out, because of his age and because of the state of his feet with all the callouses, which are cracking and that’s why he’s been limping, it wouldn’t be safe for him.’

His ‘retirement home’ will be quite different from the harbour he’s become so used to.

She continued: ‘A lady has offered to have him with her geese but the problem’s going to be whether he’s accepted.

‘I think they have about three lakes which would be idyllic and he would be walking on grass for a change. It’ll be a lovely retirement for him.

‘It doesn’t always work out like that unfortunately but we’re hoping there will be no problems!’

If you would like to make a donation towards his care, or purchase something from MWBA’s Amazon Wishlist, details can be found on its website https://www.wildbirdaid.com/donate/