Ducklings saved by local business owner

KELOWNA – When Noel Wentworth saw an anxious-looking duck on the side of the road last week he knew something wasn’t right.

Wentworth and his family were driving home on Glenmore Road around 8 p.m. May 16 when he saw a panicked mother duck on the opposite side of the road.

“She was basically running in circles in oncoming traffic and jumping on the median in the other lane,” he says. “I initially thought the duck had been hit but a second or two after I blurted out ‘I bet its ducklings are in the storm drain.’”

Noel turned the vehicle around and headed back. Sure enough he could see what he initially thought was four or five ducklings at the bottom of the storm drain.

“This duck was just acting like a really concerned mother. It wasn’t afraid of us, it was asking for help,” he says. “It would come when we called it and if you didn’t know better you’d swear it was a tame animal.”

Wentworth called the police who told him they were too busy to attend because of the long weekend.

A passerby called the fire department and the group waited.

“Another gentleman named Michael came by and he said the duck is doing no good by running around so he walked over and picked it up. I was amazed because the duck was completely calm after that. I think she knew we were trying to help.”

Five minutes later members of the Kelowna Fire Department showed up with a special bucket with a mesh bottom. Firefighters removed the drain cover and lowered the bucket into the dark hole meters below street level.

“It took a few tries but eventually it came up with nine little ducklings,” Wentworth says. “They asked us to take them to Glenmore Pond so that’s what we did.”

Wentworth estimates the rescue took just over an hour, time he says he never hesitated to spend.

“I couldn’t imagine not doing it,” he says. “Something needed our help. It didn’t come off as helping a duck, it was a life. It was responding as I would expect a human to respond.”

Wentworth says the experience left a lasting impression.

“I do like my meat but I don’t think I’ll ever eat a duck after this,” he says. “I understand why people go vegan. It wasn’t just some animal — it was a worried mother.”

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infonews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.