Boys in MN Help Duck

I read this great story in the newspaper today. I found it on Mankato Free Press online, and thought I'd share. Two boys in St. Peter, MN found a duck frozen in a pond and saved it!

Quacking the Ice: High Schoolers Help Waterfowl Duck Death by Robb Murray, Mankato Free Press, published December 17, 2006.

Eric Aspelund and Chris Hoffman, both juniors at St. Peter High School, decided Dec. 2 was a good day for ice fishing, so they went to Hallett’s Pond and began testing the ice. As you probably already have guessed, they came upon a Ruddy duck, stuck frozen in the ice, but still alive. “We thought it was a rock,” Aspelund said. “We got closer, and it was a duck.” The boys say the duck made feeble attempts to defend itself, but the boys were able to use a pocket knife to chip it out of its icy incarceration. Hoffman held the duck in his arms while they took it back to his house. “I thought it would be pretty cool just to let the animal live again,” Hoffman said. Once at Hoffman’s house, they filled a bathtub with lukewarm water and put the duck inside. They fed minnows to the duck, and in about three or four hours, it started coming around. “He started getting pretty lively, I guess you could say,” Aspelund said. When the duck seemed ready to head back outside, they took it to Mill Pond, the one just behind the police station and city offices, which is about five blocks from Hoffman’s house. Right away the duck started swimming around and flapping its wings. “I’m a hunter. I’ve seen these ducks a lot. From its movement, I thought it looked normal,” Aspelund said. They went back to that pond for a few days to make sure the duck was OK. The last time they saw it was Dec. 4. Alan Aspelund, Eric’s father, says he wasn’t surprised at what the boys did. They both have a healthy respect for, and knowledge of, animals. “In my opinion, these two kids do a lot of neat things,” dad said. “Every Halloween, they used to get pumpkins and feed them to deer ... There was a duck in distress and I’m glad they did what they did.” Article by Robb Murray.