On Super Bowl Sunday, Lucy had a worse day than Cam Newton.
Four golfers found the goose barely able to walk, seriously hurt from an unknown injury near a water hazard at Skyline Country Club in the Foothills.
Rushed to the Tucson Wildlife Center, the goose was near death for several days, said Lisa Bates, founder and executive director of the Tucson Wildlife Center.
“We knew she had head trauma and neck trauma,” Bates said, noting tests found the goose had a fractured skull.
On Friday, about two dozen members of the country club came to welcome Lucy back to her adopted home on the golf course.
Many wore “I love Lucy” stickers, another held a handmade sign while others brought crackers and crushed potato chips to feed her.
Freed from her cage, Lucy ambled quickly to the water’s edge, squawking to the crowd as two ducks moved to greet her.
Linda Chorney was brought to tears.
“I actually got choked up and that doesn’t happen to me,” Chorney said. “As soon as I saw her in the cart I could feel the excitement from her, she knew she was home.”
Lucy’s fan club seemed to agree the goose has made her home on the course for at least the last two years.
No one knows how she found her way into the Foothills, but a few admitted they’ve been feeding her. Chorney said Lucy was about 10 pounds heavier than the average goose.
Scott Fadynich, who regularly encounters Lucy while golfing, said he quacks at the goose when he sees her. “I don’t know if I am aggravating her, but not many people talk to her,” he said.
She does, however, answer him and greets everyone when they come near.
Lonnie Lister, the general manager for Skyline Country Club, said members took up a collection to help pay for her care at the wildlife center.
The nonprofit does not charge to treat injured wild animals and relies on donations to keep its doors open.
While Lucy is seemingly in good health, one of her supporters said she needs a mate.
One story residents were telling each other Friday had the goose collecting stray golf balls and sitting on them in an attempt to hatch them.
