Pictures of a high school golfer in Michigan attacked by a goose have gone viral.
Not quite like a scene from the Alfred Hitchcock movie "Birds." But still pretty scary if you’re the one being attacked.
Local wildlife experts say they are not surprised the attack happened on a golf course.
“A lot of golf courses have ponds and water and the geese will nest on them,” said John Moriarty with Three Rivers Park District.
And those nests are what the geese are protecting, making even the most innocent human a threat.
Moriarty says more than a quarter-million geese are in Minnesota and of those, 25,000 are in the metro.
So, what can you do to avoid being attacked? First and foremost, don’t run.
“If you run, most wildlife will chase you," Moriarty said. "Be aware of the geese around you. Normally before they attack they are either going to hiss or honk, make noise or seem agitated."
If that happens, Moriarty said you should "calmly walk away or walk toward them."
Secondly, be confident and look big.
“A goose weighs 10 to 15 pounds. A human is 150 or more pounds. It is not that big of a fight. Stop, look big, stick your arms out," he said. "If you have golf clubs, stick your golf clubs out."
And experts say you should never, ever feed geese.
“Wildlife does a very good job fending for itself. If we start feeding them it will disrupt their normal food pattern and we make it so they want to come to humans,” said Moriarty.
So when it comes down to you and geese, not only should you watch their behavior, but yours as well. You could unknowingly trigger some scary moments like the one captured in those photos.