Guess after work it’s time to figure out something new so my poor dog doesn’t have to play momma duck anymore! 
Good morning everyone! Hopefully some of you are getting some more consistent warm weather. We are supposed to hit 70’s today. Woo hoo! I forgot how quickly ducklings outgrow the kiddie pool as a brooder
Good morning Jaykay, have a great day
Gladly.
I love this story and the descriptive nature of your post. I am the daughter, wife and mother of Marines. They absolutely think they are the biggest, baddest mofos on the planet but they are in all honesty great big softies! Especially with animals. Wish I could have been a fly on that median to watch this unfold in person!Semper Fi big guy
I got to roll in the dirt with a Marine yesterday, and this is how it happened.
I was driving down a large 50 mph boulevard yesterday when I saw a truck on the opposite side parked in the traffic lane with flashers on. Walking through the median was this 6'4" granite chiseled Zeus lookin fella. Then I saw what this guy was doing. He was saving a mother Mallard and her babies. I turned around, and jumped out of the car to help. (yes I put it in park first)
The mother looked like she had been hit by a car already. Her right leg didn't look good and she had no use of it. It looked like maybe her hip (do ducks have hips?) was broken and was kind of folded in under her, dragging her foot.
Zues was on the phone with the Sheriff's department trying to reach the wildlife department, but nobody was answering. He was on one side of the median and I was on the other trying to bring attention to the family to incoming drivers.
At one point a F350 pulled up and stopped. Both window on the driver side came down and there was 4 guys, mid 20's maybe. They had the look like they where ready for an interaction with Zues, just had that hyena look in her eyes. Juice simply explained he was just trying to get their attention for the duck, but these guys were being a bit antagonistic. For a second time, Zeus reiterated he's just trying to save the Ducks, and the driver had a smart comment to say. I swear and less time than it takes a gnat to fart, this fella stood straight up, bowed his chest and barked a comment I can't post here. All 4 hyenas literally shriveled in their seats and drove away.
This big red blooded rump kicking machine of a man was so concerned about these small animals. It had a sense of poetic beauty all on its own. I told him I raised poultry and could help them. After the 3 time not reaching the wildlife department, we decided to catch them. Mom was not very mobile so we where going to come in from the sides, and coral her to the point we could basically bum rush her. The median and was only about 15 ft wide, so we didn't have a whole lot of room use. We slowly got to about 5' on either side of her, and she just took flight. Apparently, there was absolutely nothing wing with her wings.
Zues and I are now scurrying around trying to get the 2 tiny and very fast ducklings... We where running and lunging ourselves like professional volley ball players. Literally rolling around in the grass to stop this extremely cunning little things. Pro football players could learn a thing or two from catching wild ducklings.
After we caught them, we drive across the street to try and find momma. There was a thick patch of trees that she flew towards, but when were got there, it was more like dense woods with a lake we couldn't see from the road. We accident about 30 minutes looking for her, but we didn't have any success.
So I now have 2 Mallard ducklings. I know you have to have a permit in Fl to have them, so I'll be reaching out to some rescue to see who can take them in. I've toyed with the idea of raising them in hopes they'd just fly away when migration time comes around, but I don't really know how to raise a wild duck to still be wild, and think I'd actually just impede on its success. It's a morals vs law vs capability issue...
Anywho, here they are. They're young.
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Semper Fi
