A duck tale of coincidence!
|
What are the chances?
One wet night, a call came into Wildlife Victoria for a rescue of a Duck who had been hit by a car. The call had been made by Victoria Police members who were busily working a Booze Bus and the duck had been hit on the opposite side of a busy road. Wildlife carer and rescuer Kay attended the scene, with her high visibility vest on and taking precautions on the wet road, found the adult Pacific Black Duck laying roadside in a poor state. She wrapped the duck carefully in a towel and removed her from further danger. After a quick vet check, it was established that the duck had quite severe head trauma and would need time in care with a licensed wildlife carer, so Kay took the duck back to her wildlife shelter for recovery. “As a long time wildlife carer, experience comes from being able to pick up on wild animal behaviour” Kay explained. Despite the injuries, this poor duck was very distressed being care. On her wobbly legs, she was having trouble standing and had to be propped up with supportive towels, but was clearly trying to get up and go. It is not unusual for a wild animal to be distressed in captivity, but this was different. Kay had seen it before. It was when a mother was desperate about her young family. The search was on. Back to the rescue site to look around for a clutch of ducklings. There was adjacent parkland and the search was unsuccessful. Who knows what may have happened overnight, a fox, a cat, the ducklings are so vulnerable without the protection of their parents. The next best thing is to get mum well again and back to the area so she can find her babies. Hopefully, the head injury was not as bad as it could be and she will be improve quickly. The mum was showing signs of improvement the following day but still had a way to go. She was still very stressed and stared pacing, falling over with her instability but onto soft bedding. A full day passed but then… Kay responded to a request for a carer for some ducklings that had been found without parents. The ducklings were at a vet some distance away and it was not an area that she would normally collect wildlife from as there are other carers closer to the location of the vet. On this occasion, was it fate? The ducklings were transported to Wild Day Wildlife Shelter by a Wildlife Victoria volunteer transporter. Into their hotbox with a surrogate mother duck, a bright yellow and orange stuffed toy duck, but perfect as the ducklings settled down quickly huddled on the new mum, warm and safe. At this time of the year, many ducklings find themselves needing to come into care, so this was nothing unusual. There were already other ducklings in care at Wild Days. The next morning, while updating the animal records with the paperwork received with the ducklings, a sense of excitement started to built. The vet form for the ducklings listed under ‘location found’ an address not close to the distant vet clinic, but in the same suburb as where the adult duck was rescued. Quickly checking google maps, the street was a very short distance from where she was found. Could they be her missing babies? If the ducklings are introduced to her and they are not hers, it may not end well. As the little ducklings were brought in a carrier to the room where mum was, you could hear her moving around. She recognised her babies. One by one Kay allowed each duckling in with the mum. She quickly nudged each one with her beak and pushed them under her wings. She was still unsteady but the instinct to protect her young was strong. With all of her babies now back with her, she settled down, no more pacing, her recovery progressed as she tended to her young. It was a week later when mum duck was good to go. She was taken with her young family back to the nearby wetland to be released. She left the crate first, then ushered her ducklings one by one into the water, and they all paddled off together. What a great ending! |
