This is the kind of story we live for over here. HERE is a duckling rescue we shared in 2008, HERE is a kitten rescue story and today, in true Mike McCardell fashion, we're delivering another not-so-dramatic rescue courtesy of Janet Bowell who wrote in with it a couple weeks back. Enjoy!
Today my sister and I, along with two other women, help rescue 8 baby ducklings from a storm sewer. How the mother and her 8 babies got into the neighbourhood - who knows. But, a woman walking in the hood noticed the mother and her following babies. She observed them as they walked along, the mother ahead, babies behind. The mother walked forward over a storm drain - 4 babies fell through. The mother heard them, turned around and walked back - remaining 4 go down. Mother now is in a frenzy; women heads to drain, sees that they are alive, starts to knock on doors soliciting help. Enter woman number two. Comes out observes and disappears. My sister walks by, woman asks if she has a cell phone so as to call for help (she hasn't one) and then enlists her help to watch over babies and mother from crows now surrounding area and traffic while she runs to major intersection to flag down police/any type of aid. Woman number two comes back with a stick with a spoon taped to the end of it and a cardboard box. Now attempts to 'scoop' the ducklings up through a 1 1/2' space between the storm sewer bars; doesn't work. Heads off again. Sister still guarding. ....
They come up with a solution, rescue all 8 babies and then call me as they now don't want to release the babies to the fate of the crows, traffic and other storm sewers. No agency was able to come the their rescue (BC Wildlife, SPCA, Bird Sanctuary). To cut a long story short, we enticed the mother to follow us over 12 blocks (and across busy streets - 49th, Arbutus) to a safe area by carrying the boxful of cheeping and leaping ducklings in front of her as an 'enticement'. The picture of the ducklings coming out of the box was taken when we released them after arriving at our destination.
