Domestic ducks captured by Harry Fuller at a south Salem park on Feb. 16, 2022 (Harry Fuller/Special to Salem Reporter)
This little adventure began as a minor mystery, became a challenging puzzle, concluded with all concerned parties happy.
Our dog and I often walk to the 7-acre Clark Creek Park near our home in southeast Salem. There are mature walnuts beloved by squirrels. A year-round creek runs a few inches deep between rains. It’s lined with tall cottonwoods and smaller trees and shrubs. There are sloping lawns, a couple sidewalks, tennis and basketball court, a small children’s playground area, a warm-months water fountain and three picnic tables.
One recent morning the dog and I encountered something new and unexpected. Three domestic ducks were huddled on the creek bank. Where from? How? What? Escapees from some nearby back yard? I took some pictures, wondered if the owner was looking for them.
Domestic ducks swim in the pond at Willows Branch Horse Haven following their rescue from a south Salem park (Harry Fuller/Special to Salem Reporter)
That afternoon the dog and I returned. I spoke with another dog owner. She’d been there the previous evening when the ducks had been released. The person who let them go said they’d be happier in this idyllic park.
My wife and I were both raised on farms with livestock. Back when cows were milked by hand, you started tractors with a hand-crank of the engine. I recalled ducks my parents raised. They loved the pond, grass pastures, being safe inside the chicken house at night. The abandoned duck trio may have had no experience foraging in the wild. The park had no deep water where they could be safe from a nocturnal predator or unleashed dog.
We worried. Then we roused a younger athletic neighbor and went duck “hunting” with blankets and a large cage to hold them. Our neighbor’s large fish net on a long handle was the answer. We netted one duck at a time. The round-up soon included a few kids, two adults and a parent from the next-door daycare center.
My wife contacted a Polk County horse rescue operation where she’s volunteered. Keeping over 20 horses requires a lot of daily hand work. The ranch already had a duck pond and small flock. The owners were willing to add our trio.
We turned them loose on the edge of that pond. The newcomers quickly swam out to join the other ducks, then eagerly splashed and washed and preened. They will live out their lives on a duck pond at Willow Branch Horse Haven.
The associated Willows wedding venue means the ducks get fed duck pellets by brides and children, are background characters in wedding photos and swim contentedly every day.
As we left our rescued trio rested safely on the island, the sun drying their feathers. They were in duck paradise.
Domestic ducks swim in the pond at Willows Branch Horse Haven following their rescue from a south Salem park (Harry Fuller/Special to Salem Reporter)
For information about upcoming Salem Audubon programs and activities, see www.salemaudubon.org, or Salem Audubon’s Facebook page.
Harry Fuller is an Oregon birder and natural history author of “Freeway Birding.” He is a member of the Salem Audubon Society. Contact him at [email protected] or atowhee.blog. His “Some Fascinating Things About Birds” column will be appearing regularly in Salem Reporter.
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