This past May, Olga, an artist living in Wilmington, North Carolina, was on her balcony enjoying an early morning cup of tea when she noticed a duckling struggling in the pond near her home.
Olga watched as the duck’s mother swam over and began pecking
at the baby, splashing through the pond water. At first, it appeared as if the mom might be hurting the little duck. But upon closer inspection, Olga realized the mother duck wasn’t attacking her baby — she was desperately trying to free him.
“I realized he was completely caught in [a] net,” Olga said in a video for The Dodo.
Olga contacted a local rescue group, but given the early hour, she couldn’t reach them. Meanwhile, Olga’s friend used a broom to gently usher the duck toward the shore.
With the duckling safe on land, Olga and her friend carefully cut the netting away from his legs. Once freed, they placed him back on the ground and watched as he raced back toward his family, who were waiting in the water.
“It was almost like a miracle,” Olga said. “The baby regained his strength and started to run away.”
Together again, the ducklings and their mother swam happily through the pond, perhaps feeling grateful to have this emergency behind them.
In the weeks since the rescue, Olga has checked on her feathered neighbors each day, making sure they’re safe and sound.
“I go and count them every morning,” Olga said. “It’s nice to see how all of them spend time together.
