Brian Swanson wasn’t looking for friendship when he went to open up his cottage earlier this year, but he soon found himself with an unusual companion: a wild ruffed grouse that took to following him around his property.
Swanson, who lives in Red Rock township in Ontario, first noticed the bird in March. Whenever he came to the cottage, he’d see the grouse coming into the yard to hang out.
“We’d go out on the weekends and once we would show up, he would show up … in the yard again,” Swanson told the CBC.
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The grouse, a male Swanson has named ‘Din-Din’, is happy to tail Swanson wherever he goes on the property, though he seems reluctant to follow his human friend further afield.
“I went for a walk to the neighbours’ yesterday and he walked halfway and then met me on the way back. It’s almost like there is a border there he just stays in.”
Swanson doesn’t know why the bird has taken such a liking to him. Usually, grouse keep their distance from humans — which might lead you to think that this “friendship” is really just opportunism, and that Din-Din is just looking for food or other favours. But that’s not the case, according to Swanson. In fact, Din-Din has never taken food from him.
“People say ‘did you feed him?’ and I didn’t give him anything,” he said. “This weekend I tried to give him some bread but he wouldn’t eat it.”
The bird also hasn’t let him pet it, preferring to remain a walking companion.
Male grouse are known for thumping on their chests to attract a mate in the spring, a sound Swanson has grown accustomed to. “I can hear him thumping in the bush in the morning, so I guess he is looking for me.”
And while Din-Din remains devoted to his bff, he has also made other friends, and even facilitated some social gatherings.
“The neighbours fell in love with him,” Swanson said. “They all come over and visit.”
It just goes to show — sometimes the best friends are the ones you don’t choose.