Lovett welcomes back injured mallard and her ducklings

The Lovett School welcomed back some special friends to its campus last week.

In early April, “Daisy,’’ a duck who nests behind the Lower School’s K-1 playground every year, was severely injured during an altercation with a violently aggressive goose who also annually nests at Lovett.

One of Daisy’s ducklings also drowned during the incident, but the rest were rescued by the school’s maintenance and grounds crew. The mallard and her two-week-old brood were then transported to the Wildlife Treatment Center at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine for treatment.

After five total hours of surgery, a team of 13 veterinary specialists, including anesthesiologists, surgeons, and radiologists, helped Daisy make a miraculous recovery. She and her ducklings were taken care of by 16 veterinary students, given medications, nutritional supplements, and twice-daily therapy.

So it was with much celebration last Friday as Daisy and her nine ducklings were returned to Lovett. Wild animals such as Daisy don't have owners, so the doctors and students at the treatment center collected donations to fund their treatment. The school children at Lovett pitched in, too, pooling the money they've donated to their chapel collection this year and donating it to the Wildlife Treatment Center.

If you are interested in helping offset the costs of treating the ducks, consider a gift to UGA's Arch Foundation, c/o Kate Grant Wildlife Treatment Fund/Ducks. Gifts can be made online at www.vet.uga.edu/giving/funds.php or by mail to 501 D.W. Brooks Drive, Athens, GA 30602; e-mail inquiries can be directed to give2vet@uga.edu.