Sometimes it seems like the world is made up of egoists. Fortunately, there are still people who take a closer look and roll up their sleeves immediately when the need arises – people like Betsy Ross.
The best animal stories can be seen here! (Scroll down to the article.)
When the mother of three from Visalia, California, is playing in the park with her family, she makes a sad discovery: She comes across some duck nests that seem to have been willfully trampled on by a visitor to the park. “My children were very upset about it,” says Betsy. “They found a single egg that had a small crack but did not leak and asked me to rescue it.”
The kind-hearted mother cannot refuse her children this wish. Betsy takes the egg home without knowing how to save the little life in it. As a sign language interpreter, the Californian knows precious little about breeding chicks. She wants to hand the egg over to a local animal shelter, but the keepers tell her that they can only take care of hatched animals. After doing some research on the internet, Betsy finally got a crazy idea.
Since Betsy cannot afford an incubator, she decides to incubate the egg with her body heat. She finds the ideal place for this in her cleavage. “I wore it in my bra for 35 days and slept with it like that. I’m a chubby girl, that’s why it fit almost perfectly between my breasts. ”Betsy turns it three to four times a day so that the egg is evenly warmed. She only gives her protégé temporarily into the care of her husband for showering.
The patience of the “surrogate mother” pays off: after 35 days, Betsy hears a soft peep from the egg – a tiny duckling pecks its way through the shell. Betsy lays the egg in a cardboard box while it hatches, but the duckling needs her help again: the chick hatched too early and cannot peck completely out of the egg. Betsy has to free it from the shell.
Now that the shell is gone, Betsy faces the next problem: “The chick hatched prematurely and was still attached to the yolk, which was not yet absorbed,” she recalls. “That’s why I took a damp cloth and applied antibiotics to the umbilical cord and his tummy twice a day. I was surprised that it didn’t die. “
Although weak and wobbly on its legs, the duckling shows a strong will to live. “One day we woke up and he was walking around,” says Betsy. “Later I let him swim in the bathtub and in puddles.”
The duckling soon turns out to be a squeaky drake who is very fond of his two-legged adoptive mother. “He followed me and when he heard my voice he went crazy and chattered. Apparently he noticed if I went without him because my husband complained that he was sitting there and screaming. “
The Ross family quickly took the feathered foundling to their hearts, but finally it is time to say goodbye. The weak duckling has become a handsome drake and Betsy knows that he is better off in the great outdoors than in her house. So, with a heavy heart, she finally hands the animal over to a project that operates a farm for rescued animals.
Even if the separation is difficult, Betsy knows that her pupil is for nothing in his new home. “He’s fine and has a new human friend who loves him,” she says. New girlfriend or not – the drake will definitely never forget his savior, who gave him so much warmth and love.
Thumbnail: © Reddit / junebug878787