Big, scary goose prevents meter reader from doing job

NORSEWOOD, New Zealand, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- It was a "ferocious gander" that kept a utility meter reader from doing his job, resulting in a missing electric bill, a New Zealand homeowner said.

Lyn McConchie called the Norsewood electric company after her bill did not arrive in the mail, and was told there was trouble reading her meter.

Under the notation "unable to access property," the receptionist said, "It looks like 'ferocious gander.' Could that be right?"

McConchie said she owns a gander, a mature male goose, who keeps guard when she is not at home and has been known to bite late-night prowlers.

The meter reader was not prepared to take on the big goose, and preferred to call when McConchie was at home, the newspaper Hawke's Bay Today said.