A Duck Tale...

(Those of you reading this in a reader please click on the actual post. For some reason only the video is showing in the reader window - the other photos and the narrative aren't. If they're not showing in mine they're probably not showing in yours, either.)

I picked Dan up from Art Camp, and lookie what we found on one of the park's roads:



Mama duck was trying to get all of her little duck babies across the road, but there was a problem.

 

We realized that the last little guy was having quite a bit of trouble, so we moved him out of the middle of the road (not touching him) to safety. One of the other bystanders worked for the police department, and she called the Humane Officer to come pick up the injured duck.

 

Dan was very concerned, and kept telling the duck Mom, who had taken up residence a few feet away, that everything was going to be okay, and that we'd take care of her baby.

 

She looked skeptical.

 

We moved the duck, deemed "Ellie" by Daniel, to the sidewalk, hoping that it would be easier for the little guy to stand on even ground. But he didn't.

 

He did perk up and drink some water.

 

We waited about thirty minutes, then Ellie's Mom decided to leave Ellie behind, which was heartbreaking. I understand that she had to watch out for the other, stronger twelve, but natural selections is cruel, isn't it? I'd rather just think she trusted us to take care of him.

Dan was worried that Ellie (who is a boy, according to Dan) would miss his Mommy and his brothers and sisters. He might...

I took matters into my own hands. Having just received an email from the Wildlife Refuge that morning, I pulled it up on my phone, got their number and called to see if they'd take Ellie.

 

They would not, but referred me to a woman who took in injured ducks. So with the help of another bystander (it definitely wasn't MY Coach bag!) we got Ellie into a temporary carrier and took her to the duck lady. I assured Dan that the duck lady would have another duck Mom thrilled to adopt him.

Dan wanted to carry her himself...

 

And so we left Ellie in the care of someone who committed much of her life to taking care of these abandoned creatures. And we slipped her some cash.

 

Dan wonders if we'll ever see Ellie again. Perhaps. But no matter what, we gave him a chance at life. And learned something about it in the process.