Just type the word “goose” into Google to get an idea that we’re not just looking at a creature we want to approach and tame. One of the first records gives us some clues about the bird. It comes from WikiHow and is essentially an educational article that outlines eleven steps to follow to stop a goose attack. Experts certainly appreciate the creature. In fact, Brazil’s most feared prisons don’t have dogs, they have geese.

A relentless army. Prison escapes are common. On average, one prisoner escapes every day in Brazil, most of them through the front door after bribing the guards. But in some of the most dangerous prisons across the country, things are changing. When night falls, there are no guards or dogs; instead, there are goose patrols that have proven themselves to be infallible. The administration knows that this has an advantage. Even dogs will submit to a good steak, but geese cannot be bribed.

The first prison. It happened fifteen years ago when a prison in Santa Catarina, Brazil, replaced its guard dogs with geese. It wasn’t clear at the time why they chose to be the only company in the country to use geese, but it worked. Since then, the geese have patrolled the grassy area just inside the prison walls, and the number of escapes has dropped significantly.

Number? Zoologists explain that these are not ordinary geese. They are “watch” geese that have been domesticated for a long time and used for this purpose. They are animals that report any disturbance in the environment with sounds. Then they honk their horns.

We’re not talking just any noise, they’re geese and when they’re angry the noise they make is capable of unleashing a deafening cacophony of honks and squeals that serves to alert guards throughout the facility. In addition, they are highly territorial and have the ability to charge anyone who enters their territory.

Better than dogs. These creatures have an advantage over guard dogs, in addition to being unbribable. Unlike man’s best friend, which requires training and a lot of care, geese get the job done, just by being geese. Dogs are also more expensive to train and maintain.

At the maximum-security São Pedro de Alcântara prison, prison director Marcos Souza told the Wall Street Journal that the Belgian Malinois that roam the prison’s perimeter wall cost $7,000 each. On the other hand, “the geese are happy with rice and never get sick,” he explained.

Why in Brazil? The country’s prisons have been a good laboratory for testing this initiative, primarily because while today’s prisons have state-of-the-art detection systems that make it very difficult for inmates to escape undetected, the shortcomings of many facilities across the country make these creatures a lucrative move.

More. At a prison in the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, staff recently used geese to alert officers when packages (usually phones or drugs) were being dropped into the prison for inmates. Equipped with excellent night vision and keen hearing, geese are the best alarm clocks they’ve ever had.

The case of São Pedro de Alcântara. They accidentally started with geese at this maximum-security prison in southern Brazil. Apparently, prison officials first came up with the idea a few years ago when they were cornered by a flock of angry geese during a barbecue. As is the case with many of Brazil’s underfunded prisons, the prison director was struggling to make ends meet and agreed to give them the opportunity to patrol the grounds.

They now cover the grassy area between the prison’s inner fence and outer wall, and the “practice” even spread among local farmers to protect themselves from intruders; a tradition that legend has it dates back to the Romans. When Gallic warriors invaded and liberated Rome around 390 BC, geese took on the role of sentries, sounding the alarm.

They have no loyalty. This is very important because, as they say in São Pedro de Alcântara, even those who feed them every day do not receive positive treatment from the creatures. Moreover, they have handed over the care of the birds to the prisoners themselves, with the assurance that the geese will easily betray their keepers if necessary. For this reason, every day a small group of prisoners leave their cells for good behavior and, among other activities, have to feed the animals, which is one of the moments that the prisoners fear the most.

In fact, the WSJ recounts the case of a prisoner sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder and robbery who recalled the trauma of being attacked by animals when he was called to do some maintenance work on his turf. “One time, when I went to fix the door, everyone came towards me,” he explains.

And they never sleep. Or so it seems, of course. Coronetti explained that authorities have always had their doubts about this. When night falls, when it rains or snows, the geese continue to wander as if their lives depend on it. “They are always on patrol, walking like ducks, stopping, walking some more. It is a mystery how they sleep.”

Animal violence. The truth is, the animal kingdom is full of stories about how to avoid sleeping with creatures that are as territorial as they are dangerous. Australia is full of these bugs, and there are even lists of banned animals by country. However, there are few like the goose, which is seemingly harmless, doesn’t cause any trouble, and even China uses it to help patrol its borders to keep out illegal immigrants.

Image | Pexels, Pexels, David Evers, Jorge Lascar

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