On June 14, Hill's Wildlife Habitat Biologist Jo Proctor received a call from a gentleman who found eight ducklings in a sewer drain near the South Gate entrance. The man had noticed the hen near the gutter for some time, and went to see what was keeping her there. When he looked in, he saw her eight babies inside, prompting a call to Proctor for help.
Proctor arrived with a cardboard box to transport the family back to the duck pond on base. She successfully got them out of the gutter, but had a harder time catching the hen.
So, Proctor began to walk in hopes the hen would follow, which she did, at the heels of Proctor with her ducklings in Proctor's box.
"We had to stop traffic so the hen could cross," she said. "People were laughing in their cars."
One man joked with her, saying he'd seen plenty of people walk dogs, but never a duck.
The hen ended up in the area probably because she nested somewhere close by, Proctor said.
