Icy Weather Causes Flock Of Ducks To Crash Near Noble

It you kept up with the forecast, the winter storm that passed through Oklahoma was no surprise, but for a flock of our feathered friends, the ice not only caught them off guard, but it grounded them right here in Oklahoma.

Sunday, November 24th 2013, 5:36 pm

By: News 9


It you kept up with the forecast, the winter storm that passed through Oklahoma was no surprise, but for a flock of our feathered friends, the ice not only caught them off guard, but it grounded them right here in Oklahoma.

Like clockwork each year, certain birds migrate south for the winter, including Ruddy Ducks, which were just passing through Oklahoma until they hit the storm.

"It was actually icing their wings and their tail feathers," said Rondi Large, director at Wildcare Foundation in Noble.

Large is caring for the ducks as they're rescued. She says the weight of the ice forced them to land near Noble, but for many of them not where they expected.

"The pavement, it's icing over and at night they glisten just like lakes do," she said. "Obviously it causes a crash landing when you hit pavement instead of water."

Injured and unable to moved, the Ruddy Ducks were literally sitting ducks in the road. Luckily, people like Austin Lee noticed.

"They were everywhere. I didn't know what was going on," he said. "It was sad because most of them we found, their feathers were covered in icicles."

Austin managed to rescue four of the ducks. Sadly, he said many of the ones he found didn't make it after being hit by cars.

"There was a lot of people that just didn't see them," he said. "It's just unusual. You don't see ducks all over the road like that."

Austin took the ducks to Wildcare in Noble, where now at least 13 rescued ducks are being treated and are recovering. Large said once the weather breaks, she's hoping to take the ducks to Lake Thunderbird and release them back into the wild so they can continue on with their migration.

If you find a duck, Large said use gloves and put them in a box and bring them to Wildcare, at 7601 84th St. in Noble.

Learn more about Wildcare here.

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