Duck family RESCUED after being hit by a car!

[@wildlifeaid]

We need your help! We're currently 1 of 12 charities that are in with the chance of winning a MASSIVE £12,000 from animal friends pet insurance! All we need to do is win the most votes! So please, head over to the website and cast your vote now! Winning this money would make such a huge difference to the centre! www.animalfriends.co.uk/pawsforthought

[@PoppycockPrincess100]

Just voted. Best of luck to you guys!

[@wildlifeaid]

@@PoppycockPrincess100 Thank you so much!

[@kaykinomoto6209]

Voted. Is this a daily vote? I've seen similar voting competitions and in some of them you could vote daily. If so, I'll make it a daily routine to vote!

[@wildlifeaid]

@@kaykinomoto6209 thank you! Sadly it's a one off!

[@jgclark45]

they just ask for a name and email address to vote, you don't have to sign up for anything

[@colleen31]

Bless the man for stopping and calling for help for the ducks. I'm sure he was very upset. Poor fellow

[@wildlifeaid]

Yes it was an awful accident - he was very kind to stop and call for help :)

[@Raskolnikov1990]

Rest in peace, sweet three baby ducklings...

[@DanielRenardAnimation]

A shame that the mother didn't take the babies back, but as Simon said, it's the end of the year and the season could slam right on over to very harsh conditions for such a late batch of ducklings. Maybe the mother duck has been hearing good things from other ducks, about this kind old man, who goes around helping those in need and let you take good care of them over the winter! 😉 She seemed very calm and confident after the release.

[@wildlifeaid]

Yes it was a great shame. Sadly though the open hostility towards them was the biggest sign that she wasn't going to accept them. On the bright side though, at least these (very late!) ducklings will stay warm and fed through the cold winter :)

[@zb7293]

Maybe she has got amnesia ? She was hit by a car.

[@liliaaaaaaaa]

Yes, I was wondering if maybe she was a yoing mum but due to having the brood late in the year, maybe she was unsure about them and the stress from the accident and being separated while being cared for also separately caused her to detach from them.. she could see you guys were evidently caring about them better with 5 star treatment than she ever could. Let's hope they can all be reunited when the weather's better and they've grown bigger and stronger too. 🙏✌

[@lisawarsh-chartier9473]

It broke my heart when Mum didn't take the ducklings back.

[@wildlifeaid]

It was very sad - we're just glad all the ducklings will now make it over the cold winter :)

[@mienamie4448]

Yea..mines too💔💔💝🐣🐤🐥🍼

[@letolethe5878]

Thank you, Wildlife Aid. You are all beautiful.

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you for the support!

[@deborahpalmer1021]

When Simon makes that shushing noise, the duck probably thinks he is hissing at her. Great rescue - amazed she recovered. Have put in my vote for your organisation !

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you for the support Deborah!

[@NeoRipshaft]

Aw a happy ending to a very sad situation - I can't imagine how upset I'd be if I'd been that driver. Hopefully they're relieved at the recovery of the mom and her ducklings!

[@wildlifeaid]

Yes - we're just glad all the others made it :)

[@XXyyQQww]

I'm only at min 6 but it's so sad to see the mum not remembering her chicks :( but of course the most important thing is to get them all through. thanks for your hard work, eberyone!

[@wildlifeaid]

Yes, at least all the ducklings will make it through winter :) Thanks for the support!

[@annikawettle978]

I Love Simons comments :) Always nice to see Maru, she seems so sweet. Once again great job guys.

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you Annika!

[@Kim-lc3fv]

Another great rescue. Mum, who looked like she was on death's door, recovered wonderfully and her babies get to be kept nice and warm while they grow up with their human mums. 😊💕🦆

[@wildlifeaid]

Thanks Kim :)

[@Magrat67]

Aww, it's sad that mum duck wouldn't take her babies back but at least they're safe with wonderful WAF. Will go and vote now.

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you!

[@SFDprs]

I love the duck and duckling rescues the most(((:

[@wildlifeaid]

Glad to hear it! :)

[@SFDprs]

@@wildlifeaid And thank you for rescuing them (';

[@Frostie3672]

Very sad to see the ducklings following mum & she rejecting them :(

[@wildlifeaid]

It was indeed :( At least we know they'll all survive the cold winter now in the warmth :)

[@ForeverWinterandHope]

I'm so glad that the mom duck turned out okay, in contrast to what happened to the other mother duck. Great job!

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you! So are we :)

[@irenelitvak5576]

Simon ,you have incredible group of people working with you. I,m sure people are greatly appreciated for work you have done

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you :)

[@umm_rm]

Thank you for another wonderful rescue. You guys are angels, been a big fan since the early wildlife sos days.

[@wildlifeaid]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for your continued support, it's much appreciated! :)

[@amandah2866]

I'm glad the mum survived and that 8 babies also lived. It's pretty amazing you managed to find them at night in the bushes. I feel sorry for the man who hit her, he clearly cares about wildlife so I bet he was upset by the situation.

[@Julchan88]

Thank you, Wildlife Aid. God bless you

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you for all your support :)

[@JasonBristow2003]

I voted for WAF. I hope you win the money!

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you Jason! :)

[@DarTunwarm]

Not every rescue goes well, but can guarantee you guys give 110% regardless. Great job guys

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you so much :)

[@skiersobolski]

I voted before seing the video. What I like about you Simon and all your team is that you explain to us, who are no specialists, exactly what you are doing for the animals. You are really teachers because what is evident for you about a duck is not evident for us. Thank you again and love from France.

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you Marc for your support! Glad you enjoy the channel :)

[@pcbacklash_3261]

Months later, when the ducklings are released and run into their mum, they'll be asking her, "What the hell?"

[@missykim510]

Wow, great save! I really thought mum wasn't going to make it.

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you! It was touch and go for a moment :)

[@angelapinnock3793]

Phew💔😬 Didn't think she was gonna make it so really relieved that she and the remaining ducklings are okay 🥰

[@FacheChanteDeux]

Mama duck is a bit quackers;).

[@USERLOLAJOSEPHINE]

🥰

[@EyeSeeThruYou]

I'm glad he stopped and helped with the rescue. He is surely a good person. 👍 I understand what happened was an accident, and that the driver wanted to help repair the harm caused by accident. But so many people hit other species and could not be bothered to care enough to stop or help their *victims.* The ones who purposefully do this to other species - Nemesis comes for them, to pay them in full for their evil deeds. But Nemesis also sees the good works done here by *Wildlife Aid* and folks like them, and will bless them as she can. ⚖️🐥🦆💚

[@lone8869]

Sad. I can't face the sadness of it. 😢

[@wildlifeaid]

yes - unfortunately not all our rescues end exactly as we'd hoped :(

[@galepatrick1702]

Awesome work by Dr Maru and Simon - you do everything with precision and compassion-

[@jenniferann6956]

Thank you for helping mummy duck and the babies! 🦆❤️ I was upset when she didn’t take them back, but I’m so glad there is kind people like you to take care of them! 👏❤️ you are angels for animals! 👏👏👏👏❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@vogelkonigin3303]

i wonder if she got some memory loss from the accident and just doesn't remember hatching out babies

[@Fluffymonkeyem]

Accidentally hitting an animal is my worst nightmare. Good on him for getting them rescued.

[@alhdgysz]

Love your work Maru! 💓

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you!

[@vphiameradisogaarwa]

These videos have sustained me through these long months, thanks!

[@charliekane135]

It's lovely to see the ducklings little legs paddling in the water 💕

[@grazia1238]

Maybe mumma was in shock & didn't recognise them💗 😿💗

[@Soldier4USA2005]

Yeah. Was thinking the same thing. She had just recovered and I would have tried again on a different day.

[@wildlifeaid]

Sadly, having reintroduced hundreds, if not thousands of youngsters with their mothers, we knew quite quickly this one wasn't going to be successful. Not only did she ignore her ducklings, but she was openly hostile towards them too. Unfortunately this is a sign that too much time had passed and she just wasn't going to accept them :(

[@grazia1238]

@@wildlifeaid oh I see, is it that she has forgotten she had them because of the passing of time? If they were kept together or reintroduced earlier on would that have made a difference? ❤🐥❤

[@wildlifeaid]

@@Soldier4USA2005 Having had such an unsuccessful first attempt, we knew this particular duck had rejected her ducklings. Trying again was risking the safety of the ducklings. With the weather being so cold, ducklings can only afford to be in the water for short periods. Without their mother guiding them out of the water, they were at risk of getting waterlogged which would have been disastrous. In addition, the hostility from the mother meant that the ducklings were at risk of being drowned by her.

[@wildlifeaid]

@@grazia1238 Yes, because of the time, she would no longer accept them. We introduced her as early as we could - when they first came in, the mother was completely collapsed and needed time to recover, without 8 babies to care for. Reintroducing earlier would have risked the health and safety of the ducklings - as soon as mum was stable, we tried to reintroduce :)

[@kaykinomoto6209]

It was so sad that 3 ducklings were killed and the mum duck didn't want to take her ducklings back. But it was wonderful that she recovered well enough to be released and that all the remaining 8 ducklings would be in good hands not having to survive the cold winter when they were still so young. Thank you for saving them!

[@wildlifeaid]

It certainly was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster! Thank you for your support :)

[@armpitfuzz]

Yet ANOTHER amazing rescue, but ducklings in November !! Is this another sign of global warming ????

[@wildlifeaid]

There are lots of reasons why this may be so we wouldn't like to assume, but it is indeed very very late!

[@scotth4808]

Beautiful job.Happy to see her free again.

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you :) So are we!

[@emaavramov-atlas9564]

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you for the support :)

[@ceciliag2929]

I voted for you, good luck and keep on rescuing 💜

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you Cecilia!

[@desertdarlene]

The nail polish doesn't hurt them if they try to groom it off? We had some December ducklings where I live and the nights were almost freezing. They had a very young mother. Sadly, none survived because our area is home to a lot of winter migrants, many of them hungry gulls and herons. In the summer, most of those predators go north, so there's a lower risk to the ducklings.

[@wildlifeaid]

No the nail polish doesn't hurt them - it's also placed in a way that makes it nearly impossible for them to access it!

[@CoolMusicToMyEars]

Wonderful

[@PumpkinSoup1234]

I feared she would have to be put down but when they said she would survive I was happy again. At the end it was so sad that they couldn't be together again. It broke my heart. Thanks to that men that stayed to save them, to the woman who took them to the center and to you for all your work

[@wildlifeaid]

Thank you :)

[@kingbanzai9118]

3:50 my sister has the same exact cat plush

[@jenny_5880]

I love ducks 💞👀 Stay safe like allwase x

[@wildlifeaid]

So do we! Thank you :)

[@Linandemma]

Pleased to see you won the £12k!!

[@pdmullgirl]

Awwww, sad some babies were lost. Sad she didn’t mother up with the survivors. But, glad she’s all better and her existing babies should be okay. Kudos to the man who stopped after hitting them. He could have not gave a $&@&$& and kept going. The story ended up not bad. Thanks y’all! You’re the best!! God bless and Merry Christmas! ❤️💜💚

[@ironix1]

Wow. That is my local pond. The cars drive along there at very fast speeds. Hope the duckling were released somewhere nicer.

[@misschief4283]

I noticed the marbles in the water bowl, great idea... is it worth putting them in outdoor water bowls in gardens?

[@wilfriedklaebe]

Are they to keep the ducklings from drowning?

[@tropicalisland9281]

My dream is basically to like help ducks and swans U really make me happy my helping them

[@wildlifeaid]

What a lovely dream - we wish you every success! Thank you for the support :)

[@bobiboulon]

5:06 Wow, that sounded like a pretty violent hit. What makes her not reckonizing her ducklings?

[@wildlifeaid]

After time passing whilst separated, it's not uncommon for a mother to reject her young. We reintroduced as soon as it was safe to do so, but sadly the mother made it clear she had rejected the ducklings.

[@bobiboulon]

@@wildlifeaid That's sad... But at least, they're in good hands with you all. How much time before you can release them safely?

[@wildlifeaid]

@@bobiboulon Ducklings grow REALLY fast! They'll probably be ready in a couple of months :)

[@bobiboulon]

@@wildlifeaid Great! :)

[@markjymnast4888]

Hello! Since your experts on the manner and have experienced this kind of situation multiple times I was wondering if you could answer a (admittedly morbid) question that popped up in my mind while watching this video, and that’s how long do ducks exactly mourn/grieve? Specifically how long do they mourn/grieve for their young/ducklings? I know the ducks are very intelligent and social creatures that they can indeed sad or depressed (especially when one of their partners dies), but their mourning capabilities/behavior when it comes to losing their young always seemed a bit weird and off to me specially compared to some other animals I’ve seen. For example:I remember going out fishing with my dad once when I was about 9 or 10 and seeing a mother duck (mallard or Rouen) with one duckling, so me and my dad decided to cut up some small pieces of worms along with bits of bread and lettuce from my dad’s sandwich to feed it to them, they seemed like they were enjoying it but unfortunately the duckling got pulled/snatched down by a fish (don’t exactly remember what kind) and eaten in front of the mother who got mad/furious and chased it off (I had nightmares that night) and although the hen seemed stunned and upset and started furiously quacking for a bit, after a few seconds or 1 minute she seemed fine and continued eating the rest of the bits we left off for her then swim off with some other ducks which seemed very weird to young me. I had a similar incident recently about one or two years ago where either a red tailed hawk or peregrine falcon (don’t quite remember) snatched up two ducklings from a mother who had a very similar reaction and got over it pretty quick as well and went over to eat with the other ducks. The hens/mothers here seem off as well since I was expecting her to rejoice when you brought over her ducklings to her but instead it looks like she viewed them as strange ducklings which is why she was pecking them, from what remember researching mother/hen ducks unfortunately kill/drown strange ducklings that get near them or their young in the wild, which makes me think that she thought her ducklings died and simply moved on. I have absolutely no doubts that ducks are living, conscious creatures who can feel a wide variety of emotions like all of us and absolutely care about their young/babies (why else would they save/protect them from predators or try to help them when they’re injured?) but these types of behaviors seemed off to me and makes me think that they don’t grieve over their young like say some animals like Crows, Cows, Elephants, apes or monkey do and get over it quite quickly from what I’ve seen, tho I could very much be wrong. I’m just asking this question because 1. I’m very curious and want to learn more about those wonderful creatures/ducks and their behaviors/intelligence so I just wanna know from your experiences this kind of stuff what’s your take on it and 2. Because I hope the mother duck doesn’t get super sad or depressed about it for the rest of her life after the rescue since that would be quite very tragic:( P.S.: Keep up the great/amazing work! You people truly are a blessing to this world and its creatures. Also sorry if my English/text seemed bad or confusing, it’s not my native language. ^_^

[@animeloverXinuyasha]

(I don't have your answers but your English is perfect so don't worry!)

[@Marzi29]

Survival rates for ducklings in the wild are very low. Somewhere around 10-15%, and it's not unusual for entire broods to die. This means that, to put it bluntly, mother ducks are used to it. It would make no sense, evolutionary speaking, for ducks to get upset for a long time after their ducklings die, because a depressed duck wouldn't care for the rest of her brood to the best of her ability. Ducks move on quick because they evolved to not get upset about it. And they have so many ducklings because so few survive. Crows, elephants and monkeys are all very very different to ducks. They are much more intelligent, especially in terms of emotional intelligence. They also have only a few (or in most cases just one) offspring at a time, and invest a lot of effort into that one (or two/three, in the case of crows) offspring. So in terms of evolution, it makes sense that they would feel depressed for a while after losing their offspring, because they have a stronger protective instinct and more investment, and more capacity to feel upset. Cows are different. Dairy cows are terrible mothers. They've been bred to not really care about their calves at all, and they honestly don't care when their calves are taken away. A lot of the time, it's dangerous to keep a dairy calf with its mother because she will forget it exists and will trample it to death. Beef cows are good mothers, though. Very protective, and will get sad if separated, which is why beef calves are kept with their mothers and dairy calves are not.

[@markjymnast4888]

@@Marzi29 yikes well that’s dark, thanks for the info though

[@markjymnast4888]

@@Marzi29 but this does make me wonder some thing else, if ducks get over the loss of their ducklings relatively quickly “because they’re used to it” and “evolved not to get upset about it” like you say, then why do ducks and other water fowl behave differently/generally mourn/grieve when their mates die? 1.www.google.com/amp/s/thetandd.com/news/it-was-just-so-sad/article_6175d4a9-fb26-5b19-9535-f7adc478e801.amp.html 2.m.facebook.com/pringlesgoose/photos/pb.154783204731717.-2207520000.1439480410./362701570606545/?type=3&theater 3.www.kinderworld.org/blog/goose-waits-day-after-day-for-spouse-who-was-killed/#comments 4.johnhayesphotography.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/till-death-do-us-part/ 5.www.google.com/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/swan-dies-broken-heart-after-22225031.amp 6.honesttopaws.com/juliet-the-goose?as=799&asv=1 Is it because they’re not used to their mate dying or care more about their mates than they do they’re young? Swans are well known for grieving they’re dead mate for quite a while and even sometimes commit suicide or die of a broken heart over it.

[@richardbool4232]

Glad to see mother Duck was O.K. Great rescue read thew thing about the vote for you and passed over and who else am I going to vote for so many Great Rescues well done. 1 more vote for you.

[@Eszra]

My theory is that the mom lost her only ducklings and the ones found weren't hers but abandoned chicks.

[@Marzi29]

I doubt it. It's not unusual for ducks to lose their mothering instincts after a few days, and stop recognising the ducklings as hers. At this time of year it's very very rare to see ducklings around so the chances of there being an abandoned brood nearby would be slim to none.

[@charliekane135]

No chance

[@marcelhajnik7036]

Poor mother duck

[@wildlifeaid]

We hope she's feeling a lot better now that she's back in the wild!

[@maiachifflet729]

Great job 👍

[@HelenaMikas]

Think she liked the hotel with all mod cons .Possibly with a bad head ache after her injury, cheeping babies were not her thing.......Mallard mums have a tough life :.Being with you was like being at a spa 👍

[@wildlifeaid]

We think so too!

[@HelenaMikas]

@@wildlifeaid She was not so keen to leave the carrier at a none spa pond. Your 5★★★★★ reputation is well known .The ducklings are safe at "finishing school" Doesn't get much better:) Great work

[@wildlifeaid]

@@HelenaMikas haha a 'non spa pond' ! Thank you for the support :)

[@robertfletcher3421]

I am a little bit off-topic. Tomorrow on the talkback can you tell us how WAF is being affected by the Avian Flu H5N8. It made me think about those poor little ducklings. I saw on the news where quite a few swans were found dead on a canal in Cumbria. What should we as the public does in our encounter with wild birds?

[@bellehogel8665]

Poor babies. Wonder what happened to cause their mum to reject them. They seemed to recognize her.

[@wildlifeaid]

Having spent too much time apart, and being in a traumatic event, meant that the duck rejected the ducklings :( We reintroduced as soon as it was safe to do so, but reintroducing any species with it's young carries a very short time frame

[@bellehogel8665]

@@wildlifeaid That makes sense. I had a feeling that was the case. Thanks for explaining.

[@plm80]

I was very worried about the mom duck. Bravo Maru! well, bravo to all of you!! xD So mommy duck had 11 ducklins? waw! I've never seen so many, actually this year the most I've seen was 4 (from the same "household") and all of them hatched very late... :-/

[@wildlifeaid]

It was touch and go for a while with her but Maru worked her magic! :) We were all very surprised that there were ducklings this late in the year!

[@AcerJones21]

I'm sure she had her reasons, although it seems like a lot of mother ducks aren't that good at it. The trick seems to largely be down to recall- a mother that keeps her ducklings close controls them, a mother that can't get them to come back gets them spread out here there and everywhere until they get lost or predated. We've had a couple of interesting ones on the pond at work- one mother hatched 8 and she had a strong recall and an attitude. At one point someone witnessed her grabbing and slamdunking a seagull that attacked a baby. All 8 survived. Last year we had a clutch of 6-8 again, but with two mothers! I have no idea which babies belonged to which mother but they all went around together as a group and all babies survived again. Looks like that tactic worked.

[@dycalcifer3111]

Sad bcuz three of her ducklings are killed but its good news their mum and remaining ducklings are alive 👍

[@wildlifeaid]

Yes it was very sad that 3 were killed. We're just glad that all the other ducklings and mum survived :)

[@kingofrapture]

What is the reason the mother duck rejected the ducklings? Is that just a duck thing or do all birds reject their babies if they are not around them for a certain period of time?

[@lisacasoli]

Aww. Poor mommy duck. Nail polish doesn't hurt them ??? What happens if the mother won't take them ahh you just answered my questioned .nice how long does it take got the ducklings to be able to eat and survive on there own?

[@ericpmoss]

How many times should one try to re-introduce the ducklings to the mum before giving up? Plenty of human moms need a day away from the kids if they are really sick.

[@user-ew1gf5pj1d]

응원합니다 👍

[@DrumToTheBassWoop]

That car must of knocked her memories out of her. :(

[@omni42]

What can cause that kind of rejection? Any ideas?

[@bolognaworm]

1:46 off topic but does anyone know what music is playing in the background?

[@chantellsnyder4036]

Maybe Mama Duck just sensed her babies were better off with Simon at Wildlife AID?

[@deepvalley6698]

At this time of the year the motherly instincts in ducks don´t seem to be very strong.

[@anirbansadhukhan4681]

You people are just next to GOD.

[@charliekane135]

I've seen adult birds accepting offspring that are not theirs and rearing them. Such a shame this 'real' mother rejected hers

[@ForeverWinterandHope]

It's heartbreaking that the momma duck didn't get to be released with her babies.

[@wildlifeaid]

Sadly not all our rescues end as we'd hoped - but the rest of the family surviving is a close second for us :)

[@ForeverWinterandHope]

@@wildlifeaid so true

[@jydeinden]

aint it very late to have ducklings??

[@wildlifeaid]

Yes - very!

[@ceedavies]

So she had 11 as three were killed? Seems like she knew the ducklings were better off at WAF than in the wild with her. Glad she survived and is back home.

[@wildlifeaid]

Yes the brood would have been 11. Yes, as upsetting as it was to see her reject them, at least we know they'll be safe, fed and warm during the cold winter :) Mum was definitely happy to be back at home too.

[@tobygatford7448]

How do I donate?

[@animeloverXinuyasha]

If you go to the video description bar (just below the video), press "see more" and you should see the link to their page for donations!

[@prcervi]

i'd guess she's a new mom duck, not the right time of year and she hasn't got the "mom" thing down either

[@dysfunctionalgoat]

are we just gonna ignore the fact that 3 of the ducklings died

[@charliekane135]

If you're not quick and astute enough to see a family of ducks on the road in time to stop, you shouldn't be driving

[@chris1lovecure]

Maybe the duck has insufficient intelligence The last time the duckling was separated was smaller than when it was seen

[@johnalmaguer7118]

Guess mom got amnesia from being hit 😕

[@pollyg562]

man is this covids still going we wore masks maybe a month earlier in the year but ive not seen anyone wearing a mask in 4 months, i guess we go lucky go western australia

[@cmh3260]

I think she lost her memory after accident so she didn't recognize her babies

[@ikigai47]

Voted for WildLife Aid. Hope you win. I do wish you guys would have spayed the mum. She doesn't seem cut out for motherhood

[@ingeborg-anne]

Don't play that sad piece of music, that just means death of a cute thing to me D:

[@relaxingnature2617]

Why doesn't he pinch the nose wire on his mask ??? ..it is useless if it isn't sealed

[@Linandemma]

Spolier alert...watch vid before reading comments.....(that's not helpful is it?)