Poor duck with a hurt nose, i hope shes ok.

baloneysmom

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I had an emotional morning this morning, I am way too sensitive. My boyfriend fed Bruno and let him out and noticed he was acting odd. My boyfriend went out to see and saw a duck in our backyard. I guess he startled the duck and it went flying, face first into the fence. My boyfriend came inside to tell me what was going on and out I went to investigate.

First off I have to mention how good Bruno was. It was almost like he knew this duck was hurt and he watched the duck from afar not getting too close. Impressive for a dog to not investigate and only sit and watch from 5 feet away.

I walked right up to the duck to where I could just reach out and touch her (of course I didn’t though, I was close though). She didn’t even react and I noticed blood coming out of her nose, smearing all over her chest. I watched her for a few min, trying to see if her beak was broken, but she was obviously in shock and wasn’t even moving.

I went inside and called my Vet and got three wildlife rescue phone numbers and was going to call them. I then remembered something my friend told me that ducks mate with the same mate for life. I heard another duck in the trees behind me and I started to feel so sad. If I took her away then poor Mr. Duck would be lonely without his life mate.

I ended up getting ready for work to see what she would do next. She was safe in my backyard for the moment. I got dressed, looked out the window and she was standing up, and it looked like she was chewing. I started getting ready again, and when I looked out 5 min later she was gone.

I went outside and saw her walking in the road, she looked disorientated. She then flew, but she looked like she couldn’t go over 10 feet high, then she went out of sight. All of this happened in a 45 min time frame.

I feel so bad. What if her beak was broken, and she is now going to starve? I keep wondering what all that chewing was. Was she trying out her hurt mouth, or was she trying to open it because it was broken. My boyfriend keeps telling me shes fine because she flew away, but I cant help feeling upset that she may be suffering.

Anyone know anything about ducks? And can give me any insight on what I posted? Also, her beak did not looked broken. But she had blood coming out of both nostrils and mouth. it wasn't gushing, more like smearing.

Thanks
 

arlyn

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Most larger bird species mate for life, that said, they can and do take new mates when something happens to one.

Now then, she was likely ok, ducks have a membranous skin covering their bill that is full of tiny blood vessels.
In all likelyhood, she probably only scraped or cut her bill, it would bleed like the dickens same as if you got a cut on your scalp.

In the future, don't hesitate to call a rehabber, they will always release in the area the animal was found when possible, and birds are pretty good at finding their family members as they do so by imprinted sound instead of smell.
 
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baloneysmom

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Thanks all for the kind words. I feel so bad for this little duck. When I went home for lunch I took Bruno around the area for a walk just to make sure she wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t lying around suffering or anything. I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t find her so hopefully she is ok.

When I lived in Toronto I was always calling the Wildlife rescue. Where I lived (just a few years back), it was not unusual to find a wild animal in need at least every week. With builders tearing down all of the forests and building roads, the animals had no where to go. I volunteered at the rescue in Toronto and knew they really cared. Here I am not so sure. There doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t seem to be as much animal love here. I was afraid they would just kill her, or put her somewhere else. Thatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s another reason why I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want to call the Wildlife Rescue. I am going to do some research on the Wildlife rescues here so next time I wont be so unsure. It seems every time something happens like this to me, the people i reach out to for help laugh at me.

Thanks for the information on the membranous skin covering their bill. That makes me feel so much better. I guess its just one of those things where you hope for the best but you probably will never find out what really happened.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by BaloneysMom

Thanks all for the kind words. I feel so bad for this little duck. When I went home for lunch I took Bruno around the area for a walk just to make sure she wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t lying around suffering or anything. I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t find her so hopefully she is ok.

When I lived in Toronto I was always calling the Wildlife rescue. Where I lived (just a few years back), it was not unusual to find a wild animal in need at least every week. With builders tearing down all of the forests and building roads, the animals had no where to go. I volunteered at the rescue in Toronto and knew they really cared. Here I am not so sure. There doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t seem to be as much animal love here. I was afraid they would just kill her, or put her somewhere else. Thatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s another reason why I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want to call the Wildlife Rescue. I am going to do some research on the Wildlife rescues here so next time I wont be so unsure. It seems every time something happens like this to me, the people i reach out to for help laugh at me.

Thanks for the information on the membranous skin covering their bill. That makes me feel so much better. I guess its just one of those things where you hope for the best but you probably will never find out what really happened.
You are right. I am originally from New Brunswick and they have a whole different attitude to wildlife, heck they even view their pets in a whole different way. Rarely do they spay/neuter or even take their pets in for checkups. The only animals they even bother to care for are animals that earn them money when sold for meat.

My brother always pokes fun at me because I love Bijou so much and take such good care of him. They don't have a clue how I feel about all animals or why it hurts me to see a hurt or sick animal. It's not that they are cruel, it's just that they are clueless and that's how they were raised.
 
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baloneysmom

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Originally Posted by Yosemite

You are right. I am originally from New Brunswick and they have a whole different attitude to wildlife, heck they even view their pets in a whole different way. Rarely do they spay/neuter or even take their pets in for checkups. The only animals they even bother to care for are animals that earn them money when sold for meat.
Sad but true. There are a few of us… but a very small few. I have literally been laughed at for trying to help animals by the Police department and Fire Department when I called them about a four deer walking in our area (near a major road). I figured they would shoo them away like I see on the animal rescue shows on TV. Nope I got a “You a city girl, hey guys listen to this” as he tells his friends in the background my story and they all laugh. Fire Department was no different. When I tell people this story all I get is “Such a city girl, don’t see many of those around here” and bouts of laughter. The cops and fire department assured me I would get hurt, I assured them I wasn’t worried about me, I was worried about the deer on the road, more snickers, like I was a small kid saying something stupid.

I hear horrible stories all the time about people shooting animals on their property and looking at me strangely and laughing when I ask if there is any alternative like trapping or tranqing.

The worst was when we had Pheasants living behind us that had babies. I took a bunch of pictures because they were so cute and brought them to work. I had 6…. 6!!! People ask if they could come over and shoot them to eat… seriously? Baby Pheasants? On my lawn? Ekkkk..

So ya, I don’t trust many people around here with animal rescue stuff and that makes me panic sometimes. Ill have to research and check out the Wildlife rescue over here. Hopefully they are caring and I can call them when I need help.

EDIT: Yes and I also wanted to add that out of everyone I have ever met with a cat here (which has to be at least 30) only two of them have their cats indoor and fixed. Dogs are left at home for days, even weeks with only one daily 5 min visit from a neighbor, dogs are crated all day and night if they are too busy to walk them. Dogs even tied to banisters in the home because owners cant control them.

LOL sorry, now i am venting. It just makes me so mad!
 

babywukong

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Bless you for caring so much about the little duck. I'm sure she'll be fine, and hope she learns to look where she's flying. Bruno's a good little boy for not scaring her more, that's for sure. Perhaps he got a sensitive streak from you too


I'm sorry you live in a place where the people don't care about animals. Must be extremely frustrating and uncomfortable. Who the heck would shoot baby pheasants?! Next time any of those 6 people come round with photos of their children, try asking them if you could come over and shoot them for Bruno's next meal or something
(though you're probably too nice a person to say something like that)...
 
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baloneysmom

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Originally Posted by BabyWukong

Who the heck would shoot baby pheasants?! Next time any of those 6 people come round with photos of their children, try asking them if you could come over and shoot them for Bruno's next meal or something
(though you're probably too nice a person to say something like that)...
LOL I have a very dry and sarcastic sense of humor, this is something i would say. People are used to me saying bad things in a very non offensive way lol. I wish i had thought of saying something like that. I was so disgusted i didn't say anything. My friend (huge animal lover) kicked them out of my office though, telling them they were horrible.
 
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