This post, just as short and sweet as a duckling, will update you on the aftermath of my recent post about the duckling rescue on July 15th. Click here if you missed it. Many of you wanted to know how that last duckling fared after its rescue. You will recall, Mama waddled off with her seven ducklings and another duckling was rescued from the sewer after Mama and her brood were long gone. A search in the neighbors’ backyards to reunite Mama with her duckling was not successful, thus Gabrielle became foster mother to the remaining duckling. This last duckling is now residing at Michigan Duck Rescue and Sanctuary. I have been in touch with Matt at the Sanctuary several times this week. I asked Matt why Mama Duck would not notice she was short a duckling and he told me she is assured her ducklings are trailing behind her, but does not know how many ducklings there are. This last rescued duckling is a female and will have plenty of new duckling kin to socialize with. Matt has been rescuing waterfowl since 2006 and has a barn and pond in Brighton, Michigan where these rescued, abandoned or wounded waterfowl will live out their days thanks to Matt, his wife and a contingent of volunteers who help with rescues and delivery of waterfowl to the Sanctuary. These photos are from Matt’s website. The Sanctuary is 5.4 acres and the pond is one acre, illuminated at night and has surveillance cameras. I’d say these are lucky ducks, wouldn’t you?
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
A fine feathered orphanage! Matt’s a hero!
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Yes Matt is a hero Wayne … that is a perfect description for this sanctuary. All fine feathered orphans, abandoned and wounded please come and stay as long as you like. They look like they all get along don’t they?
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yes,they seem to get along but I bet Matt could point out the bully!
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There’s one in every crowd for sure. And I saw some Pekins and Mallard Hybrids … they are much bigger than the Mallards. He has domestic ducks as well.
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That’s a lot of ducks! Hope the little one does well. Maybe there are other babies for her.
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I know – it must be overwhelming to be the new kid on the block! Matt said there were other ducklings there, so she’ll have “instant kin”. 🙂
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Miss Linda…………………..you were part of a Lucky Duck rescue!……………………………………I’m happy they have a sanctuary to go too…………………and wonderful, caring people like yourself to get them there
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That’s nice of you to say that Ann Marie … I merely got the ball rolling. I am pleased that this duckling will be there with all of Matt’s other rescues. There are some ducklings at the Sanctuary, so she won’t feel so all alone and overwhelmed by all the ducks.
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I like this rest of the story post. Baby ducks need all the help they can get.
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Ally – I used to love Paul Harvey’s “Rest of the Story” tales. I listened on a local radio station and it was before internet radio, so no “rewind” feature to revisit a show, nor were there podcasts available so I’d be sure to be up well before 5:00 a.m. to hear Paul Harvey’s words of wisdom. This baby duck will fit right in … there are others there. Good thing since there are so many ducks in the pond and around it – it would be pretty terrifying I’d think.
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Just ducky!
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Indeed! Maybe not the original siblings. but new kin for this baby and a wonderful place to thrive.
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So glad this duckling’s story had a happy ending! What a wonderful work the Sanctuary is doing.
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Me too Rebecca – all’s well for this duckling … maybe with new kin, but at least safe and sound.
Taking in all those ducks (plus other waterfowl who have been injured, Mute Swans and Canada Geese mostly) is wonderful and heart-warming.
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Wow, talk about duck soup…..that’s a lot of ducks! I hope she can adjust. That’s interesting re the mamma not knowing exactly how many ducklings there are and just expecting them to obey and trail behind her, which probably works quite well, except in situations like falling into a sewer grate!
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I was surprised too Joni. Matt also has geese and swans he has rehabbed; if they can’t go back out on their own after they recuperate, they stay at the sanctuary. I’m glad there are some other ducklings there so she is not alone and overwhelmed by all the ducks. At the most, I’d say we have 10 ducks at a time in the Creek at Council Point Park, maybe a few more in Winter where they congregate together. I was surprised to find she did not know how many ducklings she had. If you ever see them, they are always walking or swimming behind her. The ones I saw jumping into the water and paddling around had not strayed too far from her. I hope Mom learned not to walk across the sewer grate with ducklings that are smaller than the grate openings for the next set of ducklings she has!
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So many ducks! They look happy. I wonder if any ever fly off to join their wild kin?
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I know – it’s amazing how many are in one place swimming happily with their kin. That’s a good question Eilene. Maybe the older ones try once they are rehabbed, especially if it’s nearby.
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How I admire people that devote their life to helping nature!
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Me too Diane – how nice this is to devote your time, efforts and property into a haven for rehabbed and rescued ducks and other waterfowl. (Just when you start to lose faith in humanity sometimes.)
Here is a video of his sanctuary:
https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/salem-twp-couples-michigan-duck-rescue-and-sanctuary-is-labor-of-love
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That is awesome that they do that for the ducks. I just love that. 🙂
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Me too Sandra – I wonder how many ducks (and he has some geese and swans as well) are in these pictures? In this video, you can see just how many waterfowl he has there:
https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/salem-twp-couples-michigan-duck-rescue-and-sanctuary-is-labor-of-love
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Very lucky ducks! 🙂 What wonderful people Matt and his wife and all the volunteers are!
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Lucky ducks with plenty of kin to keep them company. 🙂 I agree with you Barbara. Matt began in 2006 by rescuing five ducks and on his Facebook site he has stories of countless rescues of ducks and other waterfowl. This is a news story about him and his wife: https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/salem-twp-couples-michigan-duck-rescue-and-sanctuary-is-labor-of-love
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Thanks for the video, Linda! What a wonderful thing they’re doing with their love, time, money, pond and land. I love the names he has chosen for some of the ducks and geese. 🙂
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You’re welcome Barbara – I was going to include it in the post, but figured I’d just show the duck pond and property and all the waterfowl which was pretty amazing. I liked the chosen names for Matt’s ducks and geese too and how the “residents” loved eating the greens that Kroger donates. I’ll bet it is pretty loud there when they’re all in one spot at feeding time. 🙂
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I’m glad there was a happy ending for the little baby duck!
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Me too Laurie – I was amazed to learn that Mama does not know how many ducklngs she actually has. Good thing they play nice and follow behind her in a neat queue. 🙂
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Thanks for the update. That sanctuary looks amazing. So happy for the happy ending.
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Me too Janis. It is amazing what Matt and his wife do – he gives them a home, safe from predators and with their kin.
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I’m delighted to hear there’s a happy ending for this little duckling too. 🙂
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It ended up working out so well Clare – that duckling will never be lonely, that’s for sure!
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I’m glad to hear that this story had a happy ending! We need more feel-good stories in this crazy world!
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Me too Sabine – that duckling, rescued three weeks ago today is probably getting big by now. She will be right at home with the other ducklings and waterfowl. I follow this rescue site on Facebook and Matt went to rescue a cygnet that had its foot injured by a fishing lure and the fishing line bound around its foot. He fixed it and the male swan’s eyes did not leave Matt the entire time he was helping the cygnet. Very heart-warming.
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