Dusty

You Will Love Our Crazy Duckling Rescue Adventure Story!

 

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.

1. After carefully checking, they could not see, or hear, family along our length of the stream.
2. No sound or sight of ducks nearby.
3. 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.

Silver Kitten
Duckling Rescue Adventure Reporter