Sometimes one’s closest neighbours, even if you don’t know them personally, are in need of your help. Unexpected moments of crisis, or encounters when a helping hand is what is needed, provide a challenge for all of us – will we step up? Or do we consider ourselves too busy, too inexperienced, too anything that will mean we aren’t rushing to the rescue.
We have had two incidents this past few weeks. The first involved us literally… picking up ducks.
Mama duck had produced what looked like her second hatch of the breeding season. That raises questions as to what happened to the first offspring, but she came hustling up as we moored up beside the towpath, keen to show off her brood of seven, and probably more likely, to see what food we had on board.
The seven ducklings were tiny, very new, and little more than bundles of fluff being blown about on the canal. Their peeping cries as they hustled in her wake were piercing but she seemed to be marshalling them well. We handed out duck food and once she had eaten, she hurried her offspring over to the far side of the canal which was overgrown with brambles and nettles at the edge of an unmanaged patch of woodland. Shade and insects were both evidently appreciated by them all.
Some hours later in the early evening as temperatures dropped, we emerged from the boat, and set off to walk to a cool pub. Within a few steps all we could hear was the strident calling of the mother duck and faint answering peeps. She was in the water but with only 4 ducklings. She was swimming up and down alongside a concrete overflow weir, now empty from the level of the water, but somehow it seemed 3 of her youngsters were trapped inside. The duck was frantic, the ducklings too, but although they had somehow got in, it appeared getting out was a different matter.
Pub abandoned, or at least put on hold, we grabbed our older grandson’s one red and now faded pink seaside fishing net, and set off to the nearest bridge to see if we could rescue the missing youngsters. We slithered down the bank to the overgrown section but it soon became clear that the dog was a hindrance and we didn’t all need to be stung and scratched.
The Skipper and Boatdog made their way back to the far side to act as guides, indicating the mother duck’s location. Using the handle of the net to beat down the nettles and move brambles out of the way wherever possible, I regretted not changing out of shorts but made slow progress to the weir.
As I reached the nearest section I saw I the concrete sloping channel finished in a chute that led water underground down the steep bank to a stream at the bottom. From the noise it was apparent at least one duckling was somewhere down this chute. Looking among the matted weeds in the channel, I spotted and heard two tiny little brown and yellow balls. One was heading back up the channel, but before I could do anything with the net the second one fell into the mouth of the chute and vanished into the darkness.
Concentrating on the little one still heading up the channel, dodging round weeds, I managed to balance on concrete edge, following it as the Skipper marked the duck’s progress. It became apparent that a small gap at the end had been the entry point for the youngsters. I’d been wondering how they had got in, and now it was the exit for this little one to plop back into the canal and be reunited with a very vocal mum.
Hoping no others would head in, I set off to try and find the remaining two who had disappeared completely from sight, but whose anxious peeps were still in earshot if somewhat fainter. I could not see them down the foul smelling chute, but I could see it’s sheer edges which indicated they could well have tumbled all the way down to the stream and woodland some 15-20 feet below.
Going straight down beside the chute didn’t work – I sank into brambles up to me thighs. Scrambling out I moved, still clutching the net, back the way I had come in and then tried moving down through the woodland. Once down at the level of the chute exit I needed to beat a path to the small stream indicating where the ducklings might be.
As I approached treading very carefully in case a duckling was ambling about, brown and yellow being a perfect camouflage for dappled woodland full of detritus. Suddenly I saw a duckling scrambling up the bank alongside the chute exit and rapidly scooped it into the net. I then stood stock still trying to spot the second one. It seemed ages before I spotted it on the far side of the chute. It took a couple of tries before it joined its sibling in the bottom of the net and I turned to try and make my way back up to the canal.
Unfortunately one hand holding a net and a second hand having to ensure the ducklings didn’t jump out of the fairly shallow net meant I ended up shuffling up the bank backwards! Finally just as mother duck seemed to be losing interest in waiting for her ducklings, the net was in the water so they could swim out and rejoin the waiting family.
Rescue complete. The relief was immense, and the very delayed trip to the pub was even more welcome. And I took no photos of the drama at all!
Within a few days, the eagle-eyed Skipper spotted a hoglet (young hedgehog) on the edge of the towpath in an area where lots of dogs are walked, many off the lead. Not only were dogs an issue, if the youngster made it the short distance to the canal it would fall in and drown. So we collected gloves, followed the RSPCA guidance, and moved it to safety leaving mashed dog food and water in containers for it.
We then monitored it for some hours but it remained alone, no family appearing, it seemed to become weaker. Looking at it closely it was also suffering from two blood sucking ticks. A call to the RSPCA, preparation of a rescue container (cardboard box with holes punched in it and an old towel at the bottom) and hoglet was en route to a wildlife unit. It’s a good thing we have the car with us this week.
RSPCA staff stepped in the second we arrived and whisked the hoglet away to remove ticks, and give it vital liquids. They then gave us a replacement box, because they thought it possible there would be other hoglets needing rescuing. We in turn gave the charity a donation for its essential work.
We didn’t find any more hoglets before we moved on, but the rescue kit remains at the ready with gloves, towel, box and low containers for water and food, and the child’s fishing net is back on the roof.
On reflection there have been all sorts of other things that have happened in past days, but these are the ones that stayed in our minds. They were stressful, uplifting and hugely rewarding. Positive actions have power to overwhelm everything else.
Pickingupducks 