Kudos to Paul, Ed, Cory, Nancy and Patrick for helping this feathered family out when they were in need!
Yesterday afternoon Facilities Center (Nancy Durecki) got a call from Sodexo Food (Patrick Tesner) about a family of ducks that appeared to be in distress. Nancy asked me if there was anything we could do. Jim White and I went to West Hall to investigate and found a mother duck sitting on the wall of an eight foot deep utility well. At the bottom of the well were eleven ducklings obviously trapped. It appears that mother built her nest and hatched the ducklings with no thought on how they might get out. Jim White, Ed Blough, Cory Thiel and myself held mother and father mallard at bay and removed all eleven ducklings. We released the entire family to make a better home in the wet lands just east of the Cherry parking lot.
Postlude: It was quite hectic rounding up all of those ducklings, so on a hunch Jim and I returned to the scene of the crime to find a twelfth duckling still at the bottom of the utility well. I climbed down the wall, without a ladder mind you, got the duckling and tossed it up to Jim. Now it appears that I didn’t give anymore thought on how I was going to get out then the mother duck. After about ten minutes of exercise I managed to emerge from the pit only a little worse from wear, but realizing I really am not a kid anymore.
-Paul Perry