ROSEVILLE, Minn. — It’s been a busy year for the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. On Tuesday they passed a record 21,000 patients. Includes a late season mallard duck.
“He now weighs 167 grams. He weighed less than 50 grams and now he weighs 167 grams, so in just ten days he has tripled in size,” says Dr. Agnes Hutchinson, a veterinarian at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota.
A concerned citizen brought in the duck after finding it abandoned last week.
“I have to admit, I didn’t think it was true when they told me,” Hutchinson said. That’s because this is a record as the youngest chick.
“This is the third or fourth youngest duckling recorded in the state of Minnesota,” Hutchinson said.
The center also had the previous records. Admission of clutches of mallard ducks in December 2016 and 2017.
While weather could potentially play a role, Hutchinson says they don’t know for sure.
“I think this is too broad to understand and to know that we could say this is the exact reason why this is happening,” Hutchinson said.
The center received another possible late state record in September.
“We also had a baby grebe come in in September. That’s way too late,” Hutchinson said.
The Great Crested Grebe has now been released, but they still have their hands full with other feisty birds, such as a cardinal that was left stunned after crashing into a window.
“She wouldn’t fly, it was some kind of head trauma,” Hutchinson said.
But now she is well on her way to being released.
“So I like her to sit, to be able to gain height and fly around and dodge when I go to catch her,” Hutchinson said.
Once the duckling is ready to go, they say they will find an open body of water with a food source and actually release it this winter.
If you find an injured animal, the center says not to touch it. You will need to call them first and they will guide you through the appropriate steps.
Lisa Meadows
