Health care workers save 10 new-born ducklings as mum leads them along busy road

Mum and the ducklings appeared lost as they meandered along pavements and roads, weaving under parked cars in Lurgan, Co Armagh.

The father of one of the health care workers, who preferred not to be named, said they spotted the 10 ducklings walking behind their mother along Woodford Park heading towards the Wood Lane.

He said: “The girls were out working, looking after the elderly in the community, when they spotted the ducklings and were clearly lost.

“They were walking in the middle of the road and the girls were scared that the little ones would be hurt.

“They figured they would be heading for the lake in Lurgan Park and tried to guide them - using social distancing - towards the park,” he said.

“They tried to shepherd them to safety and over the main road towards the park but the mother kept flying off.”

The dad explained his daughter, who is working as a domiciliary care worker while her nursing degree is on hold, and her friends were very concerned for the little ducklings and managed to herd them into a box.

Classroom assistant Deborah Donaldson was nearby and came to help.

She explained that they waited and searched for three hours close to the park to find the mum but to no avail.

“We were just 300 yards from the park but the mum just disappeared.

“The ducklings were just six or seven hours old but we just couldn’t leave them,” said Deborah, who is working on a rota system at Kings Park Primary School, teaching children of key workers.

“We tried everything, looking under car, in bushes and people’s gardens and hedges. I am sure people thought we were mad,” she said.

They also contacted the police and the USPCA but they were unable to help.

Eventually they tracked down ‘Debbie Doolittle’ via Facebook. “Debbie Doolittle is a wildlife expert who gave us instructions on what to do to find the mum but she had disappeared,” said Deborah.

By 8pm on Wednesday night, after three hours searching, Deborah, who had been wearing just a vest top, was freezing and someone brought her a blanket to keep her warm.

“I am sure people were wondering what was going on. There was I, shrouded in a blanket holding a cat box full of ducklings, surrounded by three nurses,” she laughed.

She said that having spoken to Debbie Doolittle she believes the mother was exhausted.

“Debbie came and took the ducklings and is going to keep them until they are old enough to be let free in the wild,” she said.

Mum Deborah, who has three children of her own, aged 14, 16 and 19, said her kids wanted to keep the ducklings.

“They were so cute,” said the 43 year old.

“It will be an interesting story to tell the children at school,” she said.

On Debbie Doolittle’s Wild Life Facebook page, she said she could ‘ault the finders at all as they followed instruction’.

She added that it was ‘all too much’ for the mum.

And of the ducklings she said: “In a few weeks time, once their proper feathers have come through, they will all be able to go to a nice lake and begin their wild lives.”

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