A Duck Tale

Happy news for a change. From an email I received. About a mother of multiples who is equipped by nature to nurture and rear numerous babies.


Subject: Duck story w/pics-true story

Baghdad, Iraq

APO,(deleted)

Email: (deleted)

A True Duck Story From San Antonio, Texas ...

Something really cute happened in downtown San Antonio this week. Michael R. is now an accounting clerk at Frost Bank and works downtown in a second story office building. Several weeks ago, he watched a mother duck choose the concrete awning outside his window as the unlikely place to build a nest above the sidewalk. The mallard laid ten eggs in a nest in the corner of the planter that is perched over 10 feet in the air. She dutifully kept the eggs warm for weeks, And Monday afternoon all of her ten ducklings had hatched. Michael worried all night how the momma duck was going to get those babies safely off their perch in a busy, downtown, urban environment to take to water, which typically happens in the first 48 hours of a duck hatching. Tuesday morning, Michael watched the mother duck encourage her babies to the edge of the perch with the intent to show them how to jump off.

The mother flew down below

and started quacking to her babies above.

In his disbelief Michael watched as the first fuzzy

newborn toddled to the edge and astonishingly

leapt into thin air, crashing onto the cement below.

Michael couldn't stand to watch this risky effort.

He dashed out of his office and ran down the stairs

to the sidewalk where the first obedient duckling

was stuporing near its mother from the near fatal fall.

As the second one took the plunge, Michael jumped forward and

caught it with his bare hands before it hit the concrete.

Safe and sound, he set it by the momma and the other stunned

sibling, still recovering from its painful leap.

One by one the babies continued to jump.

Each time Michael hid under the awning just

to reach out in the nick of
time as the duckling made its free fall.

The downtown sidewalk came to a standstill.

Time after time, Michael was able to catch the

remaining 8

and set them by their approving mother.

At this point Michael realized the duck family had only made part of its dangerous journey.

They had 2 full blocks to walk across traffic, crosswalks, curbs,

and pedestrians to get to the closest open water, the

San Antonio River .
The onlooking office secretaries and several

San Antonio police officers joined in.

They brought an empty copy paper box to collect the babies.

They carefully corralled them, with the mother's approval,

and loaded them in the container.
Michael held the box low

enough for the mom to see her brood.

He then slowly navigated through the downtown
streets toward the San Antonio River .

The mother waddled behind and kept her babies in sight.

As they reached the river,

the mother took over and passed him,

jumping into the river and quacking loudly.

At the water's edge, he tipped the box and helped

shepherd the babies toward the water and to their

mother after their adventurous ride.

All ten darling ducklings safely made it into the water

and paddled up snugly to momma.

Michael said the mom swam in circles, looking back toward

the beaming bank bookkeeper, and proudly quacking.

Live simply,

Love generously,

Care deeply,

Speak kindly and treat others as you'd like to be treated.

COMMENTS:

The Future Was Yesterday said...

I didn't know Texas had any rivers except when it rained!:)

Thanks for a great pick me up story!! I need one of those every so often....just to reassure me mankind hasn't regressed a hundred years!!

Thursday, February 19, 2009 12:02:00 AM

WA: Yep, we have rivers. They just get bigger when it rains. Once in a while they get pretty ferocious.

You're welcome. It's nice to know that the milk of human kindness hasn't curdled in everyone.

Mezamashii said...

awww how sweet!

Sunday, February 22, 2009 1:49:00 AM

WA: Thank you, Mezamashii. I loved the little story. Nature made all baby creatures cute and adorable, but I think baby ducks are among the cutest. It is heart warming to see humans take responsibility for some of the creatures who share our world.