We are describing this story as a warning, to shock our Readers and thus try to make them remember how to behave around wild ducks in the future. Nothing can save these nine little ones now. The situation may happen again, as the same duck will probably have time to lay and hatch another clutch of eggs this season.

Below, we present the account of a witness to the incident, submitted by a member of the Association for Animal Assistance in Bolesławiec, who asked that people be made more aware of such situations and that their attitudes toward animals be shaped accordingly.

The Story of the Ducklings from Bolesławiec

On Wednesday, June 1, before 6:00 p.m., a wild duck leading nine ducklings appeared on Gałczyńskiego Street, near a medical clinic. A crowd gathered. It was a sensation for everyone. People leaned out of their balconies and took pictures. Someone called the Municipal Police.

The officers caught the ducklings, but the frightened mother flew away. She did not go far; she circled overhead, helpless and unable to help her young because there were so many people, whom she feared. The officers called MZGK employees. They took the ducklings and transported them to the shore of the Bolesławiec gravel pit.

One of the municipal officers said that they had tried to catch the duck and might have succeeded when she flew onto the school sports field, but a group of children followed the duck, frightening her even more and hindering the operation.

Apparently, some people present at the scene tried to persuade the services to allow the duck and her ducklings to make their way freely to the nearest body of water, namely the fire reservoir on the AMMY premises. However, the services made a different decision, unfortunately contrary to all rules for dealing with such cases.

The mother duck continued circling above the school sports field for another hour, loudly calling for her young. She was also flying there two days later, on Friday. That evening, the Municipal Police again sent a patrol to Gałczyńskiego Street, and the officers tried to catch the duck until dusk. Members of the Association for Animal Assistance, meanwhile, searched for the young ones at the gravel pit, where MZGK employees had left them, but without success. Without their mother, the ducklings probably did not survive the night; they were easy prey for predators.

The Association for Animal Assistance obtained the following guidance on what to do in such a situation, when a wild duck leads her young from the nest to the water, as she does on the second day after hatching.

What should you do when you see a wild duck with ducklings?

  • Do not take the ducklings away, do not disturb them, do not frighten them. If necessary, the entire family must be captured; the young will not manage without their mother and must not be left to their fate.

  • If the mother dies, the young should be taken to the nearest wildlife refuge.

A duck may search for her young for up to 72 hours. Once things have gone wrong and the mother has been frightened away, the only solution is to try to catch the mother—which is practically impossible—and take her to the place where the ducklings were released, or to find the ducklings, because without their mother they will not survive even one night.