Brace yourselves for today the Departments of Awesomely Good Deeds and Impossible Cuteness are joining forces. Meet Vanessa, a mama mallard duck who has been hatching broods of adorable ducklings in the courtyard of Village Elementary School in Hartland, MI for the last 13 years in a row. The courtyard is a very safe place for Vanessa to incubate her eggs, but when it comes time to lead her babies to water she faces a problem: her babies can’t fly out of the courtyard like she flew in.
“When Vanessa the duck first laid her eggs in the courtyard 13 years ago, one very astute teacher named Ruth Darrah did a little research. She discovered that the newborns have to reach water 24 to 48 hours after they hatch. So Darrah came up with the idea to clear out the necessary hallways and lead Vanessa, with her chicks in tow, to freedom. “
13 years later Vanessa is still laying her eggs in the school courtyard and, every time they hatch, the school tapes off a pathway, empties out, and opens the right doors to enable mama duck and ducklings to make their way to water. According to Darragh, Vanessaa was a little confused by the process 13 years ago, but she managed and now she’s got the duckling parade route down pat.
30, She/her. Used to be DreamingPagan a long time back. Multi-fandom, mostly Black Sails these days but with a lot of Tolkien and funny things interspersed. Complete language and history nerd - be warned. I write fic and occasionally I talk about ships.
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