Young Heroines

You've been reading about Tango, Annabelle, and Maddie. I want to switch gears and share a rescue story that my childhood friend, Linda, left in the comment section a few weeks ago. She titled her comment, "Young Heroines," and rightly so.

We'll get back to my guys later. On Saturday, I'm attending the rescue puppies reunion and you can be sure I'll have some handsome dog photos and a heartwarming story to share then! For now, read Linda's story and share the joy that Linda felt when she witnessed a wonderful rescue.

Linda wrote:

Today I witnessed a wonderful rescue of a mother duck and 3 baby ducklings. I was taking my usual evening walk near an apartment complex that has a stream running by. This year I've seen several mother ducks and their babies living near the stream. As I was walking by, I saw two young ladies with a big pool net...it looked like they were trying to catch baby ducklings...so I asked them what was going on. It turns out the mother duck had a broken wing! They had a big plastic bin with a lid and had rescued the mother duck...their mother was going to take them to the Wildlife Center. Now they were trying to catch all eight baby ducklings to take with the mother. The plan was to return the mother and babies to the stream, once the mother was healed. The girls were using the pool net to guide the ducklings toward a wire cage they had propped between two rocks in the stream. One girl explained that they couldn't use the net to catch the ducklings because it would injure them. The girls were cousins and they worked together as a team. I was so impressed by their determination and inventiveness in trying to carefully trap the ducklings. They worked for at least an hour or more...jumping on rocks and getting into the stream at times. In the end, they caught three ducklings. It was getting late and their mother wanted them to stop because she wanted to get the mother duck to the Wildlife Center before it closed. A friend of mine who lives there, told us he thought the rest of the ducklings would be OK because they are about three weeks old. In previous years, he's seen ducklings left alone when their mother was killed...and he said they're usually able to manage. The cousins reminded me so much of Jan, my sister, our friend Ronnie, and myself when we were girls...and how much we cared about animals. It was wonderful to see young people who were learning about the natural world and doing their best to make the world a better place!

It is indeed wonderful to see young people learn about the natural world, Linda. Hopefully the cousins can share a friendship like ours. What a great childhood we had together. Loving relationships make for caring poeple who do make the world a better place.

Do you have a follow up to this rescue story? I'm sure we'd all like to know more!

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Big Bird Bad Net

As you've probably noticed, I'm writing about everything from my own dear animals to the wildlife that I've had experience with...usually for reasons not too great. So let me tell you about the owl we rescued. What a day that was.

It was about 4:00 in the afternoon. The blistering sun could have fried an egg on the pavement. I remember sweating bullets as I pulled my car into the garage, grateful for the shade.

I had barely opened my car door when Ryan (my youngest) came flying around from the backyard.

"You've got to come quick," he said. "There's a big owl caught in the soccer net out there!"

I can't tell you how many times I've heard the words...You've gotta come quick.

Ryan pointed to the field behind our house that backs up to a soccer field and woods. There was indeed a big owl caught in the soccer net.

Ryan always thinks I'm not afraid of anything but I am. I just manage not to show it very often. I jogged out to the field with Ryan and saw the pathetic (but scary to me) owl. He'd probably been caught in the net since the night before.

"We've gotta do something," Ryan said.

Ryan's a creature of the obvious. We did have to do something. But what? I wondered to myself . I looked at the owls huge talons. The owls enormous round eyes looked back at me and begged for help. That was about all the big bird could do at that point.

As we stood there debating about what to do, my husband arrived. He too is a creature of the obvious. "You can't just untangle him with your hands," he said.

"Are you going to help us or not?" I asked.

"I'll help if you do it right," my husband answered. Even though Chuck's not the animal person I am, he's always there to support my efforts. I appreciate that more than words can say.

After a few minutes more of debate we decided the soccer net had to go. Ryan ran and got a big pair of pruning shears. I got a huge box and a sheet.

I don't remember who cut the netting and who put the owl into the box (netting and all). It doesn't matter. What matters is that we took the owl (now covered with a sheet) to Ohio Wildlife for help.

That was a good move.


Turns out, the owl was dehydrated and totally worn out. Ohio Wildlife rehydrated our owl friend and got him out of his netting prison. After a day or two of rest and IV fluids, they released the owl right back where he came from...the woods behind our house.

It was a glorious thing to see. Somehow there's nothing more rewarding than a successful animal rescue and release.

As for Ryan, he grew up to work for the park system. His passion for wildlife is still evident. Early this spring Ryan came over with a recording of owl calls. We ventured to the edge of the woods with Ryan, his wife, some friends and a tape recorder. Ryan turned on the recorder. Within minutes, a great horned owl flew from the forest to a tree just overhead. Back and forth and back and forth the owl flew.


"I wonder?" I said to my husband.

"Could be." he replied. "Could be."

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