By Glen Atwell
MOTHER duck quacked at passers-by and tried to bite cars in a frantic effort to have her seven ducklings saved from a drain outside a milk bar in Hampton Park on Sunday night.
Hampton Park Milk Bar, on the corner of Somerville Road and Clive Street, was the scene of a dramatic rescue that involved Nigel’s Animal Rescue worker Brendan Smith and Victoria Police.
The story has a happy ending. Six of the seven ducklings were saved from the storm water drain and are happily recovering in Devon Meadows.
Milk bar owner Alan Wassouf said he had gone outside for a break around 8pm when he first heard the mother duck quacking.
“She was quacking at customers and trying to bite cars that were driving past the drain on Vanessa Drive,” he said.
“I got a friend to lure her away from the drain so I could see what was going on.”
Alan heard chirping from within and raced inside to call local vet and the RSPCA for help.
Nigel’s Animal Rescue and the police were soon on the scene.
Brendan Smith from the rescue team caught the mother duck and then opened the drain to save the ducklings.
Six ducklings, all soaking wet, were pulled to safety, but sadly, one had already died.
“It was lucky I went for a break when I did,” Alan said.
“I’m not sure the ducklings would have survived much longer.”
The duck family will be released onto a dam in Devon Meadows later this week.
