Watch as cute ducklings get rescued in East Sussex
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Residents of the Barley Mow static caravan park in Uckfield alerted East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) when they spotted the little family of ducks wandering towards the main road.
The road was closed for five minutes to ensure the mallard duck and her ducklings were not run over.
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Hide AdTrevor Weeks MBE, founder and operations director of WRAS, said: “Rescuers attended quickly, kept the family contained at the park, and assessed the area and checked maps.”
During the rescue operation, Mr Weeks said ponds could be seen in various directions on the map, making it very difficult to know which direction the mother duck wanted to head in.
He added: “If we catch her and relocate her she will just up and walk when we are not looking and potentially get run over. So we need to give her some space and let her decide where she wants to go, unfortunately this will mean escorting her out onto a small section of the main road.”
Two veterinary ambulances with flashing orange beacons were used to warn and slow traffic down.
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Hide AdRescuers Julie Stafford and Ellie Langridge, with the help of local residents, let the mother duck start walking.
“She was reluctant to walk out of the caravan park, but she would have only ended up at a dead end if she didn’t head out,” said Ellie.
“Once she was out on the road traffic was slowed down and stopped so we could get her safely along.”
The mother duck walked straight past the turning to the first pond on her right and wanted to head along the road, Ellie said. She then started turning to go into the field on the opposite side of the road.
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Hide AdOnce the family of ducks were off the road, traffic was free to proceed again.
“I wasn’t overly convinced that she wanted to go into the field, and she quickly turned right, staying parallel with the road,” said Mr Weeks.
“Rescuer Julie stayed on the pavement in case she tried to come back out onto the road.”
Luckily the mother duck and all her ten ducklings started wandering across the field to one of the local ponds.
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Hide AdWRAS thanked the public for their co-operation and patience during the rescue.
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