Little Wee
3 min readOct 17, 2019
A story from Lori: Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting at the computer, when I heard a commotion out the window, like a tree full of fussing sparrows. I went out to check, and there are baby ducklings scattered everywhere, mom darts off across the street and never comes back. Tiny little things, they found some spaces under the fence (which i’ve tried to take care of but the fencing fellow might have done a better job) and our neighbor has a manhole in the their back yard (why?) and I fear the worst. So after they all take off and scatter, I manage to pick up one, and am instantly smitten. Immediately, I am in love with the little thing. So I grab a bucket and put in some water and walk around the neighborhood looking for mom, making that high pitched squeaking noise the babies make. Went to the little cesspool which was created to keep our neighborhood from flooding again, and saw not one bird. Drove all the way to Tufts Wildlife Clinic (they were closed, a lovely lady let me in!) and they said, “Unless mom is dead, you must let her find the babies.” Drove all the way back, and now Little Wee is getting frisky, trying to jump out of the bucket. Oh, and I stopped at The Glass Heron (thanks Deb!) to have a pic taken on the way. Little Wee had a great adventure, and I had serious misgivings about the advice (put it in a box. Ur, right. Like it will sit in there sweetly) but I didn’t go to Veterinary School, now did I? A friend once sent me some wild bird supplement, which I gave, even though Wee isn’t a backyard bird, and set her in the clover, and the little love finally napped, with my keeping watch (and taking pics. Oh, I couldn’t stop. The sweetest face!!!) But even if mom came back, how would she get the duckling back to whatever water they came from if my gate is closed? And if I leave the gate open, that feral cat, whom I have spoken to twice now, will surely kill it. What to do? So I set up everything it might need in the yard and now I’ve lost her. She’s either in the very tall Bee Balm or she found a space under the fence and took off. Thanks for listening. Had to tell the story (and stress added to stress, when I got home from the ride for nothing to Tufts and back, Maxie was sick, all in a lump, not eating, in pain. I really didn’t want to have to drive her, too. But after pain meds and syringed water (she let me rub her belly! A first!) she started to eat. Thank God. I found the space in the fence Little Wee probably slid out of. Be safe little duckling (no such thing as ugly).
