Duckling rescued from drain

SAVED: Samantha Jeffries (left) and Tara Swan with two-day old Mav, the duckling they rescued from inside the flood water drain into the Lake of Remembrance at Queen Elizabeth Park, Masterton. PHOTOS/LYNDA FERINGA

Social media and members of the community came to the rescue of a trapped duckling after five calls to the Masterton District Council produced no result on Wednesday evening.

The duckling, which was trapped for at least seven hours in the Lake of Remembrance floodwater drain at Queen Elizabeth Park, was rescued with the help of a small group of people who answered a call to action through Facebook.

Masterton resident Samantha Jeffries noticed the "distressed duckling making peeping sounds" while on an evening stroll with her partner and baby.

"We came across this big grated area at the pond and there was a little duckling stuck in it, every now and then peeping, looking for mum," she said.

"He couldn't get out and was stuck in the algae, so at about 6pm I rang the council. They stated to me that it wasn't a Masterton District Council matter, it was to do with SPCA.

"I informed the person that we had no SPCA, but that went nowhere.

"So I called the SPCA and an inspector from Wellington called me back but she said she couldn't do anything."

Miss Jeffries said she contacted wildlife enthusiast Tara Swan through Facebook for help.

Miss Swan drove down from Eketahuna, and they made another call to the council requesting that someone come to unlock the padlock on the drain.

"They said they were looking for a key," Miss Swan said.

"And I said that's fine, but then they never turned up."

Miss Swan and Miss Jeffries waited with the trapped duckling for an hour but no one from the council arrived to unlock the grate.

They turned to Facebook for some extra helping hands.

"Someone turned up with some nets, and we used a pole to herd him into a corner," Miss Swan said.

"And then I jumped into the lovely cold water trying to scoop him out.

"He was tired, cold, and shivering, and you know ducklings die of the cold really easily and quickly."

Miss Swan said that because it was dark by the time the duckling was rescued, the mother could not be identified and so she took the duckling to her home and has kept him fed and under a heat lamp where he is doing "incredibly well".

"It's horrible that he didn't go back to mum straightaway and we always do try to give them back but he would have died. Simple enough, he would have died."

Miss Jeffries said that two previous calls to the council had been made by other residents earlier that day and that "nothing was done about it".

Masterton District Council spokesman Sam Rossiter-Stead said the council received a call about the trapped duckling just before 3pm on Wednesday and immediately attempted to locate the key to the storm drain.

The relevant contractor was dealing with a family medical emergency and had not been given a key to the drain.

A new padlock was being fitted in case a similar issue arose in the future, he said.