18/11/2025
A (very lucky) duck’s tale 🦆🐥
Just after dawn, one of the carers at Tuohy Aged Care Home set in train a drama involving a mother duck, her ducklings and eventually the Fire & Emergency services.
Kidus the carer had no idea that when he began his shift at Tuohy Aged Care Home this mornig, that he would eventually be involved in a full scale rescue mission involving a little family of ducklings in grave peril.
Fiona Clarkson, Senior Administration Officer takes up the (duck’s) tale.
“Kidus was calling out to me from the carpark to come help him,” he says.
Poor Kidus was so upset because there was a mother duck going crazy, calling to her chicks who had somehow got into the drain-well in the home’s carpark.
“It appears that they had gone under the road, through the pipe and come out the other side into the nursing home’s car park drain (covered and welded shut of course),” said Fiona.
“Kidus and I tried everything we could think of to help them, but we soon discovered that without any earth-moving equipment our ability to trouble shoot this problem was limited.
“The poor little chicks (I counted seven at the time) were so distressed calling and calling to the mother while poor Mother Duck was obviously helpless (as were we).
“I made and had multiple phone calls over the next two hours from all the animal rescue places who for various reasons couldn’t help us.”
As things became increasingly desperate, Fiona and Kidus finally found the hero they needed.
“I eventually spoke to a very kind and helpful man at DFES who told me, yes, this is something we can help with and after just half an hour, the amazing fellas from DFES & Swan Shire came to the rescue.”
After some extreme head scratching and quiet murmurings between themselves, they bought out the big guns (a circular saw, crow bars and other random unknown tools) before literally cutting and lifting the grate away.
“After that, one of the DFES fellas lay down and reached down to bring out all the ducklings, carefully lifting them to safety,” said Fiona.
And then one more surprise - there were actually 10 of them!
By now, the drama had attracted quite a crowd.
“All the staff and residents were clapping and cheering for such a great outcome - especially Kidus, who was so happy they were saved,” said Fiona.
After the rescue, the Shire and DFES crew took the very lucky little duck family down to the side street near the river, where presumably they came from originally.
“Everyone was just so kind and patient and thoughtful and it just shows you -not all superheros wear capes,” said Fiona.
“Sometimes they wear Fire & Emergency & Hi-Viz Shire uniforms.”
