After a few quiet days without our duck (released), I got a call on Thursday from a lady rather frantic because there was a duck and her ducklings trying to cross over Main Nth Rd. After a brief discussion, she explained there were two police officers with her, but neither of them really knew what to do next. I explained the best thing she could do was keep them contained in the area safely until we got there.
Being new, I rang one of the more experinced duck carers, ... and the three of us verntured over to the GP Plus centre to assess the situation.
We got there to find a very scared mother duck, with all her babies huddled in a bush. Sounds like an easy rescue right?? Noooo chance! Within minutes of trying to catch her, mum took off and left her ducklings scrambling. We did manage to capture all 14 babies :) After a few attempts of us letting the babies call her, we moved over to Fremont Park and tried .... but finally had to accept she wasn't returning.
When rescuing a duck with ducklings it's important to catch mum first, as the ducklings will follow ... where as if you catch the ducklings first, mum will still abandon them if frightened.
The babies are now in my care, and I'll raise them for the next few weeks before handing them over to someone closer to release. Unfortunately one died overnight, but the rest seem really healthy little things.
I'll keep photo's coming over the next couple of weeks as they grow :)
1 week old ...
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