There's still a couple of eggs in the nest which could be either late bloomers or duds. When I looked down the street I saw the mother marching down the sidewalk with a bunch of little fuzzballs in pursuit. I did not get a picture of that but did take my camera along when we left the house to go to work. We circled around the block and discoverd the mother wandering around in the street. When I got out of the car with my camera she started quacking at me and tried to lead me away from some tall grass.
Even the drake showed up and got in on the act:
It turned out that it wasn't the tall grass that the hen was trying to draw me away from after all. To my shock I could hear the duckling's voices, coming from this storm drain:
That storm drain leads to an outlet into a nearby lake (Maybe a 30-50 yard run). To my thinking that hen is either a genius or a fool. Whatever happens to those ducklings, I'm pretty sure that a predator won't get them. The thing is that there's no way that the ducklings can get out the way that they went in, and I'm not so sure that the hen can get to them, either. Regardless of whether this is a brilliant environmental adaptation or yet another mallard mishap that I have been in some way involved in, what I am certain of is that this is not how God intended for ducks to come into the world.
Anybody out there ever hear of ducks using a storm drain like this to raise their young, or are these guys pretty much screwed?
Anybody out there ever hear of ducks using a storm drain like this to raise their young, or are these guys pretty much screwed?
******OK********
ReplyDeleteA quick search of "Duckling, Storm Drains" on Google confirms my fear that these guys are screwed without help.
I will try to rescue them tonight.
With rain in the forecast I decided quicker action was needed. So I did what I do for a living: delegated.
ReplyDeleteI called my city's animal control line, explained the situation, told them where the ducklings are and requested a rescue.
It's high time that my tax dollars went toward something that I actually care about.
I called back this afternoon and animal control reports that the ducklings were rescued and have been reunited with their mother.
ReplyDeleteSo this has been a story of ups, "downs" (as in the drain), romance (the drake has come back!), drama, and ultimately a happy ending.
Hopefully that hen will make better decisions now that she has been given a second chance.
Terry, as a 911 dispatcher for a suburban metro community - I can tell you that this is VERY common, and we get several calls each year on this same traumatic event.
ReplyDeleteYou would think some slick attorney would represent the waterfowl community and come up with a class action lawsuit against the makers of these hellacious death traps for ducks! If nothing else, perhaps a successful recall campaign.. Oh, wait a minute... ducks cannot pay the legal fees... Perhaps the attorney could work on a contingent basis. (The ducks would not have to pay until they win). But then what would they (the ducks) do with the money they won? They could start a business creating "duck safe" sewer grates.
Oops.. I hope you are not an attorney! (blushing)
David - Thanks for stopping by and dropping a comment.
ReplyDeleteWhat a coincidence - I happen to reside in a suburban metro community myself... Not in your end of town, although you did lay over at a gas station in my town on the way home from a fishing trip once when your car started overheating.
I am not a lawyer, nor have I ever portrayed one in television or the movies. I answer to a higher calling: I am part of an alliance to deplete the marketing budgets of mid-sized companies of the world (or at least the greater Minneapolis - St. Paul Metro area, whichever comes first) through provision of internet-based services and solutions.
I can think of a lot more wrongful death cases that could be filed if that's the direction that the ducks wanted to take this. The thing with ducks is that they are extremely susceptible to bribery and intimidation. In fact it is very rare to ever see court cases involving animal plantifs actually make it to trial.