livin veg

I love hearing stories about people helping wildlife. Especially when that wildlife recognizes what’s happening and displays clear evidence of sentience. Here is a true story about how my friend Damian helped out a duck and her ducklings last week in Danbury CT.

Damian writes:

“I was walking near a parking garage and saw a duck in the middle of the road quacking her head off.  I tried to usher her back off the road so she wouldn’t get hit by a car but she refused to be moved.  I looked toward the garage and saw a couple of security guards (one older, one my age) looking into a sewer drain.  They said she had four babies down there, but that the grate was cemented in place so we couldn’t do anything about it.  I took a look and it seemed more like accumulated dirt and debris than cement, so I gave it a yank and it popped open.

The older guard grabbed a dustbin, the kind with a long handle and a swinging base, and he started fishing the ducklings out.  The younger guard and I each started grabbing them as he pulled them up and walked them over.  When I dropped the first one off with the mother, she was hissing and quacking like she wanted to kill me.  The younger guard got a similar response with the second one.  By the time I brought the third one, she was calmer, but still making some noise and then the fourth one was dropped off with no agitation or fear from the mother duck.  We put the sewer grate back into place and I went off to wash my hands since the ducklings had thanked me by pooping all over me.

I went to a restaurant and washed the sewer water and duck poop off, had a quick drink then joined friends outside for some music. I saw the older security guard standing above the grate again and I figured one or more of them had walked back over and fallen in again.  Turns out, while I was gone the mother must have realized she was still missing one and that she needed more help.  She walked into the parking garage, up to the guy’s office and started quacking at him until he followed her out and saw that she had one more baby down in the drain. Once he started working to get the grate off, she walked across the street and just waited for her last baby, calm as anything.  I got over in time to help put the grate back in place and see that the mother was just hanging out on the street corner, completely content with her five ducklings.”

That duck realized that she was being helped, and when she did a head count and saw that she was still missing one, she went back to the people she knew could help her.  To me, stories like these exemplify why I don’t eat meat. Sure, I hate factory farming and the health benefits are undeniable. But beyond that, animals have distinct personalities. They care about their families. If I don’t have to eat others to live well, then why on earth would I?

Thanks to my friend Damian for writing out his story and sharing it with Livin Veg. And of course, thank you for helping that duck and her family.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.