August 27, 2011
Injured duck wanders into bird store
By ANGELIQUE RODRIGUES, QMI Agency
EDMONTON - Have you heard the one about the duck that walked into the Wildbird General Store?
Earlier this month, a small, injured bufflehead was spotted wandering the streets near the Letourneau Centre at 4752B 99 St., before literally ducking inside the nearby Wildbird General Store, at 4712 99 St.
"We just thought this must be the smartest duck ever because she sure came to the right place," laughed the store's co-owner Jaynne Carre of the bird's Aug. 9 visit. "Perhaps the duck can read?"
Carre has been running the store with her biologist husband, Lu Carbyn, for the last 10 years.
She said it's the first time a wild, feathered creature has stopped by unannounced.
"It was definitely one of the strangest days at the store," she laughed.
Carre was hosting a community event when the duck popped in out of the rain.
"A big storm had just passed through the city and my husband, who had gone out to his car, spotted this duck walking along the strip mall," she said.
"Just as he was about to catch her, two customers left our store and the duck snuck through the open door."
Carre was in the middle of the presentation in the back of store, so Carbyn checked on the bird, which was hiding in the far corner of the tripod section, and waited to inform her of its arrival.
"My husband's a jokester, so when he said we've got a real bird in the store, I thought he was pulling my leg," said Carre. "Then he showed me this little injured duck cowering in the corner."
The two animal lovers identified the bird as a young, injured bufflehead duck and decided to take it home with them that night to care for it.
"We kept her that night, and then dropped her off to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre," she explained, adding the duck was in discomfort from a cut on its neck. "We think she may have been injured on a power line during the storm, but she was able to get the right help at the centre."
The teenaged bufflehead spent a week at the wildlife acreage, west of Edmonton, before being released back into the wild.
The Wildbird General Store specializes in all things bird-related. It also houses a wildlife and nature art gallery and book store.
Injured duck wanders into bird store
By ANGELIQUE RODRIGUES, QMI Agency
EDMONTON - Have you heard the one about the duck that walked into the Wildbird General Store?
Earlier this month, a small, injured bufflehead was spotted wandering the streets near the Letourneau Centre at 4752B 99 St., before literally ducking inside the nearby Wildbird General Store, at 4712 99 St.
"We just thought this must be the smartest duck ever because she sure came to the right place," laughed the store's co-owner Jaynne Carre of the bird's Aug. 9 visit. "Perhaps the duck can read?"
Carre has been running the store with her biologist husband, Lu Carbyn, for the last 10 years.
She said it's the first time a wild, feathered creature has stopped by unannounced.
"It was definitely one of the strangest days at the store," she laughed.
Carre was hosting a community event when the duck popped in out of the rain.
"A big storm had just passed through the city and my husband, who had gone out to his car, spotted this duck walking along the strip mall," she said.
"Just as he was about to catch her, two customers left our store and the duck snuck through the open door."
Carre was in the middle of the presentation in the back of store, so Carbyn checked on the bird, which was hiding in the far corner of the tripod section, and waited to inform her of its arrival.
"My husband's a jokester, so when he said we've got a real bird in the store, I thought he was pulling my leg," said Carre. "Then he showed me this little injured duck cowering in the corner."
The two animal lovers identified the bird as a young, injured bufflehead duck and decided to take it home with them that night to care for it.
"We kept her that night, and then dropped her off to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre," she explained, adding the duck was in discomfort from a cut on its neck. "We think she may have been injured on a power line during the storm, but she was able to get the right help at the centre."
The teenaged bufflehead spent a week at the wildlife acreage, west of Edmonton, before being released back into the wild.
The Wildbird General Store specializes in all things bird-related. It also houses a wildlife and nature art gallery and book store.
