You Will Love Our Crazy Duckling Rescue Adventure Story! Let me tell you what happened.
Dad was working in his home office and he looked out of the window……. Next door’s cat was peering down from the wall into the stream behind the garden. Uh-oh he thought, one of the Dash Kitten Crew has fallen over the edge!
He and Mum rushed outside, prepared to mount a dramatic cat rescue but, instead, they found a lone duckling! Knowing that you do not touch wildlife without checking to see if their family is nearby, they assessed the situation.
- After carefully checking, they could not see, or hear, family along our length of the stream.
- No sound or sight of ducks nearby.
- The little duckling was battling a fast stream.
A decision was made. Left to its own devices the tiny duckling would be swept quickly onwards to a weir, then to the Hutt River with no chance of landfall. A rescue was needed!
First Catch Your Duckling
The duckling was not easy to catch. For something so small, it was noisy, wriggly, and did its best to keep paddling like crazy. Dad caught it – and again, Mum and Dad listened carefully for the sound of ducks nearby – in the hope the family might locate the stray through its loud peeps…….. Nothing.
It was Sunday, so the chances of getting emergency advice from the SPCA was slim. So, Mum and Dad looked online and found the Duckman. The site is comprehensive and helpful. It gave us help to take positive action for our orphan friend and mount a bird rescue.
Duckman aka Craig Shepherd, has a website full of important, life saving, information for ducks and seabirds. Mr Shepherd has worked in bird care, rehabilitation and rescue for over ten years and he was one of the bird rescuers thst made a huge difference to birdlife during the infamous Rena Oil Spill.
” I specialise in the rehabilitation of waterfowl but also take seabirds and some other breeds of birds as required.
The birds mostly come from the SPCA and vet clinics but I also get a few from the Wellington Zoo and Massey University for rehabilitation. The majority that come in are orphaned ducklings and I deal with 300 – 400 birds per year.”
With the duckling in a box, Mum and Dad checked on what to do next on the ‘Caring for Ducks’ page. Done right, the chances of a successful result were 98%. The duckling was moved to a carrier, and Dusty volunteered his microwaveable heat pad to provide extra warmth.
By the time this had been arranged, there had been a response from the Duckman rescue on Facebook. Mum and Dad were asked if they could bring the duckling to the rescue. They had planned to head out to see ‘Hidden Figures‘ at the cinema that evening (Mum has the book and found it a terrific read), but a hasty reschedule was arranged, then they set off for the rescue.
Duckling Rescue Adventure – Making Our Duckling Movie
After a winding, twisting, drive through a part of the Wellington area they had never seen before, Mum and Dad safely dropped off our little buddy and took a while to tour the rescue facility. Mum hastily grabbed her iPhone and shot some footage of the residents then made it into a movie for our post. NOTE For aspiring movie people – this was done on an iPhone, edited in iMovie, and it’s really cool!
Enjoy!
P.S. We had a further message that our rescue duckling was eating and cuddling after we left too, so thank you Duckman for your skilled advice and care.
Marjorie Dawson
Marjorie is a motorbike riding blogger and award winning cat photographer who believes that everyone can shoot and edit wonderful pictures they love regardless of the camera they use.
She is a Professional member of the Cat Writers Association, Kuykendall Image Award winner and published photographer at the Guardian newspaper.
Silver, such a cute video! I love stories like this! I would also love to have duckies of my own someday. My human used to raise white ones when she was younger & rescued a Mallard once, too. Congrats on video being chosen as Blogpaws Nose-to-Nose Award Finalist! Mew Mew!
What an adorable little duckling & a great rescue! I love how you all came together to save this tiny duck. Congratulations on being a Nose to Nose Finalist!! Much deserved!
Love & biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
What a wonderful uplifting story!! THanks for the great video!
Great job guys.
And a great video
I’m so glad the kitten crew alerted you to this duck in distress! My dad had ducks when we lived on a farm. We would watch my dad go about chores with his row of ducks following (waddling) behind him. I have a soft spot for ducks.
Hiya Dash Kitten Crew, oh we loved your Lucky Ducky report and video, it was so pawesome, thanks so much fur saving him and taking him to a sanctuary, mew guys are just amazing!!!
Bestest purrs
Basil & Co xox
Lucky duck!! Most fall victim to cats and such. Glad it’s ok.
Congrats on the successful rescue! Are they going to release the duckling once it is bigger?
It will indeed!!
Very cool! So Ducky lived happily ever after?
What a great post! Thank you for saving that duckling, and we are so glad it is doing so well with Duckman. Hooray!
It is wonderful that you were able to rescue the duckling and find a good rescue/rehab.
This was great! How wonderful you took the time to research and rescue the duckling.
Oh my gosh, the video was wonderful! Thank you so very much for all you do! Will share!
That’s really cool. Congrats and thanks for your hard work. Loved the duckie video.
Dat was really pawsum. Altho’ we had to go to Vimeo to watch da video. Fur some reason it wouldn’t play here. No purroblem we just wanted to let you know. Big hugs
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
Love this story and so happy the duck was rescued and is safe 🙂 thank you
Love this!! You must be so proud of everything your family did to save this little life, and thanks for the great Duckman resource. A few of us were caught out some time ago when we rescued a baby bird, then were scrambling to find out how to help.
What a great story! So glad the little guy had access to YOU and the Duckman.
We were not expecting such an incredible story when we popped by your blog! Thank you for saving this precious baby! Purrs from Deb and the Zee/Zoey gang
That was one lucky duckling! Thank you for rescuing him. We’ve had ducks in our yard…even have had them lay eggs, but we’ve never had any ducklings.
What a pawsome rescue ! We loved the video, that duckling is lucky to have met your humans ! Purrs
A wonderful thing to save one so small… well done dad for those eagle eyes,without them ducky would have been lost! A great video too, the Fairy Tern caught our eye amid all the wonderful rescued babies.
How exciting and what an awesome rescue! And I loved watching the video!
What a precious baby! I can’t imagine many people would’ve done the same, but I admire you all the more!
silver….well, even we hafta add mit thiz iz awesum…..but due knot let on…we haza ‘rep” ya noe….high pawz two yur mum, dad & de folkz at de re hab…and de naybor kitteh 🙂 for helpin thiz burd on his lifez journee !! ~~~~~~~~ st francis’ blessings two all …insert hearts XXX
That was a most wonderful save dear friends!
Oh, what a kind and caring and wonderful deed you did!
It’s such a wonderful feeling to rescue an animal in need. I’ve rescued two baby birds in the past (sparrows) but sadly neither survived 🙁 It was quite upsetting but they definitely wouldn’t have survived if we left them alone so at least we tried.