Orphan ducklings find comfort in company at Salthaven shelter

A group of ducklings orphaned at the side of a highway are now in care at Regina's Salthaven West wildlife centre.

Megan Lawrence, the director of rehabilitation at the shelter, says the young ducks are finding the support they need among each other.

"When they're alone, when we get a single duckling in, they tend to cry a lot, just being alone and scared," Lawrence said. "When we have other ducklings joining them — we have six right now — they're just happy to be together."

She explained that most of the skills that the ducklings require to live in nature are instinctual.

"There isn't too much to teach them," Lawrence said. "They're naturally wary of predators, they don't even want to be around us too much. We just make sure they have food and water and are clean."

Lawrence said it should take a couple months until the ducklings are ready to head back into the wild.

Driving safety

The mother of the ducklings was killed Thursday night crossing a highway with her babies near Pilot Butte, Sask.

Lawrence said that a family was driving down the road and saw the car in front of them run over the animals. They were able to pull over and bring in the surviving babies to Salthaven.

When we get a single duckling in, they tend to cry a lot, just being alone and scared- Megan Lawrence, director of rehabilitation, at Salthaven West

Lawrence cautioned that drivers should only brake or slow down when it is safe to do so. She said it's important not to swerve away from animals on the road, because this could have dangerous results such as landing in a ditch or oncoming traffic.

"Sometime's it's absolutely unavoidable. A mother will walk out in front of a car, which is sad," she said.

However, if the mother is known to be dead and the driver is able to pull over safely, concerned people can feel comfortable taking in orphaned ducklings and bringing them into a wildlife shelter.