Upon hearing that a mother duck was nesting in a planter at the Science Library on Thayer Street most people were aghast — where will they go? how will they get there? It didn’t seem possible that this could end well. But a group of concerned students and various other members of the Brown University community swung into action, cordoning off the area and guarding the brooding mother duck.
The nesting mom, first discovered three weeks ago, produced eleven healthy ducklings, and by today they were on the move . . . heading down to the Providence River and their awaiting father. That’s a one-half mile walk on tiny duckling legs. The map above shows roughly the route they took (in the blue dots). They did arrive safely, but not without a big assist from some excellent volunteers.
Check out the SciLi Duck Facebook Page for some adorable photographs and watch the charming video taken by Mary Murphy of the Providence Journal. This story would appear to involve an untold number of really swell people — well done everybody!