FOCUS: ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY NEWS : LAKE FOREST

Someone has been taking the geese and ducks out of Village Pond Park, and neighbors are demanding that the animals be returned.

Residents around the park said the ducks and white geese, whose honks have echoed in the neighborhood for years, started disappearing in April. Dozens of birds have gone missing since then, neighbors said.

The City Council received a petition signed by about 40 residents Tuesday asking the city to protect the animals.

Resident Teresa Whatley said she was doing just that when she removed about a dozen ducks and five geese from the park. Whatley said she took sick birds to a veterinarian and moved others, which she said were in danger from dogs and humans, to homes outside Orange County.