AUBURN -- Auburn Police say a ten year old boy is facing charges in connection with a rock throwing attack on a mother duck and its brood at a city park last month. Police say the youth violated the state's Agriculture and Market Law pertaining to cruelty to animals. The case has been turned over to the Cayuga County Attorney's office which handles the prosecution of minors in Family Court. City workers rescued nine ducklings, which have since been taken to a wildlife rehabilitator. Two other adolescents with the ten year old at the time of the incident were interviewed by police and not charged.
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Last Sunday, someone spotted a group of boys throwing rocks at a mother duck and her twelve ducklings at Hoopes park in Auburn. The mother and one duckling were killed, so city officials and the community decided to take the family under its wing. These nine lucky survivors stole the hearts of children and animal lovers all around. "We have a licensed person that was looking in on them," said Auburn City Manager Mark Palesh. "They told us how to feed them and I used to raise ducks when I was little. My dad had a license. But that wasn't quite good enough."
According to the Federal Migratory Bird Act and the Department of Environmental Conservation, caring for them is illegal. Tuesday afternoon, wildlife rehabilitator Trudy Gaertner brought them to their new home. "They're going to be picked up and transported to Pennellville to Jean Soprano," Gaertner said. "She's going to take care of them there until they get their flight feathers. And then they're going to be released."
They'll likely be released in Union Springs and in some of the nearby ponds, rather than back at Hoopes Park for a very important reason. "There's a lot of ducks that come in there that migrate from down south up north," Gaertner said. "They will go with them when they leave to go back south."
It will take the ducklings about six weeks to grow their flight feathers. While the ducklings became a huge hit with children in the community, Gaertner says all the nurturing could compromise their survival. "With wild animals, you're not supposed to do that. You're supposed to feed and clean and release. The less human contact the better so they can return to the wild."
Surveillance cameras caught the boys and police have identified a 10-year-old boy who they say killed the mother duckling. However, no word on what type punishment he could be facing.
There is a happy ending to the duckling saga. Although the nine original ducklings are gone, the community has a new family to care for. Nine new ducklings just hatched at Hoopes Park this week.
