07/23/2026
Some people still can’t understand why we would give up three hours of our time, as in this particular instance, including travel and rescue time, and gas, about $20 this time, to save one domestic Duck that can be purchased at a farm store, for just a couple dollars. Sounds like a poor return on your money, doesn’t it? Well, in the rescue world, you’re definitely not in it to make money, you’re in it for the satisfaction you receive from the contentment that comes when the animal that you just rescued, melts in your arms, after having been tossed in the wild by individuals who have absolutely no business purchasing these angels to begin with.
When people might respond and say, “it’s just a duck”, my first thought is to say, you’re just an idiot! They are living, breathing creatures, that I am quite certain, have the soul of an angel. They feel the pain of starvation no differently than you would, they feel the pain of injury, no differently than you would, the only problem is, they depend on you to look after them and care for them. They are not brought into this world of their own accord, they are brought in for the greed of man to make a dollar. They don’t care what happens to these babies once they are purchased, they close their eyes to the everlasting pain that many of them will live through, in their normally short, and unfulfilled lives. They are pumped out by the tens of thousands for profit only. It is disgusting that we have so little regard for the life of any creature these days.
If you have never rescued an animal in your life, you could never understand the feeling when it’s over. If you have rescued, you completely understand why we do what we do.
I received a call yesterday from Brenna, the naturalist had Crosswinds Marsh, in the new Boston area almost an hour southeast of the Sanctuary. Since I was the only one available, I had to go out and try to catch this sweet pekin solo. Since I am very limited in my endurance as of late, I was hoping for a break of some type to make it easier.
When I arrived, I was taken to the site by two maintenance workers, where he was hanging out with some Canada geese buddies. It was actually sad in one respect, watching the dumped domestic Angel, trying to make friends with anything in the wild that might accept him.
He had no interest whatsoever in food, so that told me right off that this was not going to be easy. After about 15 minutes or so of watching him and trying to figure out his next step, Al, one of the maintenance guys, suggested I stick around for a few minutes because he’s likely to come out of the water soon. Since it was an almost hour trip, I figured I didn’t have much to lose, even though my better judgment was telling me to go back home and come back later with some reinforcements and the kayak. But I decided to wait. In a matter of what seemed like seconds, the candidate geese that he was hanging with just disappeared into the reeds, and in the blink of an eye, so did my target.
This was encouraging, because on the exit side of the reeds, was a lot of open land. I was able to drive my car around the path, but knew I had several hundred feet of walking to do just to see them, and that would not be an easy task.
Once I saw the Angel in the open with his adopted geese family, I was hoping for some backup from the maintenance guys who were busy on another project. As i got closer to them again, the Canada geese got a little leery of my presence, that they all started to takeoff and fly several hundred feet away, and my little sweet boy tried to lift off as well, but to no avail. Now the chase was on, and in a foot race, I would not be able to keep up with him in my current state of affairs.
Fortunately, there were three young ladies on their way to exiting the park, and I pretty much knew this would probably be my only chance to get him. I yelled across the distance and asked them if they could just come in my direction and sort of fan out a bit to help distract the duck, and they were very obliging. They figured some type of rescue might be going on and when I explained the situation afterward, they completely understood, and were taken quite a back, that someone would drop domestics off in a park and let them fend for themselves.
As the ladies came closer, the Angel was now preoccupied just enough that I was able to get close enough to drop the net on him! What could’ve made for a very long day, was shortened considerably by the help of passersby.
I found out from one of the maintenance guys that two white pekin domestic ducks had been spotted about a week ago, hanging out together, and about three days ago, one was nothing more than a pile of feathers, most likely attacked and killed from an aerial predator.
Sadly, his partner wasn’t available to be rescued, but when I held him in my arms for the walk back to my car, he literally melted in my arms with the feeling of relief that his chance of survival just improved one thousand fold.
He was very malnourished, and when he finally had a chance to have some food in a very comforting place, he ate like they always do after being tossed out in the wild, like there is no tomorrow.
So thank you to the three ladies that helped me get him secured, to be able to bring him back to the Sanctuary so quickly. And thank you Brenna for letting us know he was out there. She has notified us several times over the last couple years of similar situations.
If you were moved even slightly by the story, please consider donating just one dollar to one of the following links. One dollar, I promise it won’t change your life, but it will change the lives of the many rescues we make daily, weekly, and yearly! Just a single dollar, four quarters, or even the change that’s in your council, or the back of your sofa, on the countertop when you empty your pockets when you get home. We don’t ask for much, even though we need a lot!. Please remember, it’s not ‘ Just the Duck’!
Thank you very much!
PAYPAL
http://www.michiganduckrescueandsanctuary.com/donate/
https://venmo.com/code?user_id=3300998449725440369&created=1722191585.337092&printed=1
Zelle: 248-446-2021
Cash App: $lyson