An 18-year-old British photographer experienced an unusual theft attempt during a recent wildlife photography session when a mischievous goose tried to make off with his expensive camera equipment. Jacob Brown was photographing swans in Lythan Saint Annes, United Kingdom, when he discovered the feathered thief attempting to drag away his camera bag.
"I was taking a photo of some swans when I noticed the goose behind me trying to pull my bag away," Brown shared on Reddit's Wildlife Photography subreddit. The young photographer explained that he first realized something was wrong when he reached for his lens and noticed his bag had mysteriously moved from its original position.
When Brown turned around to investigate, he found the determined goose struggling to relocate his heavy camera equipment. "I turned around to see the goose struggling to move my bag but had managed to move it a fair bit," Brown told reporters. The bird was making quiet chattering sounds during its attempted heist, which Brown found particularly amusing. "It was making a quiet chatter noise which was very strange because I thought the goose had really lifted my gear," he laughed.
Brown, who has been pursuing photography for approximately one year, works as a photographer at Pleasure Beach Resort, an amusement park located in Blackpool, England. Despite his current employment, he harbors aspirations of becoming a full-time independent photographer. His diverse portfolio includes sports photography, portraits, landscapes, and wildlife images, demonstrating his versatility behind the camera.
The photographer particularly enjoys wildlife photography because of its unpredictable nature. "It's always unpredictable and every adventure is different," Brown explained. He also has a special fondness for sports photography, noting that "sports moments bring so much joy." His enthusiasm for capturing athletic events reflects his broader passion for documenting dynamic, spontaneous moments.
While outdoor photography inherently involves certain risks, animal interference with photography equipment, though unusual, is not entirely unprecedented. Several similar incidents have been documented in recent years, including a case where a large Kenyan lion grabbed a photographer's lens after it was dropped, carrying the expensive equipment away in its mouth. In 2012, another lion seized a photographer's Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLR camera and completely destroyed it by chomping it to pieces.
Even smaller creatures have been known to interfere with photography gear. Last year, a crab made headlines for stealing a diver's underwater camera, demonstrating that photographers must remain vigilant regardless of the size of the wildlife they encounter.
Fortunately for Brown, the goose's mischievous behavior didn't result in any damage to his valuable equipment. The bird primarily focused on manipulating the zippers and straps of his camera bag rather than the cameras and lenses inside. Most importantly, the goose was dragging the bag away from the nearby water rather than toward it, preventing potential water damage to the sensitive electronic equipment. As Brown humorously noted, "no harm, no fowl."
After successfully retrieving his gear from the persistent goose, Brown demonstrated his good nature by taking a portrait photograph of his would-be thief. "He's lucky I did his photo for him," Brown joked, showing that he maintained his sense of humor throughout the unusual encounter. The incident has since become a memorable story that highlights both the unpredictable nature of wildlife photography and the importance of keeping a close eye on valuable equipment when working in natural environments.
