A sweet photograph of a duckling being raised by an owl in its bird box has taken the internet by storm. The woman who first noticed the adorable pair couldn’t believe her eyes when she first saw them together!
Laurie Wolf, an amateur photographer and a wildlife artist from Jupiter, a town along the Florida’s southeastern cost, snapped the adorable pictures in her backyard. First, she thought the eastern screech owl was taking care of its very own owl hatchlings!
So she was pleasantly surprised to see a sweet yellow duckling sitting by its side when she took a closer look.
They look like family! She eventually realized the owl had been raising the duckling as its own.
Sometimes, they both pop out of Laurie’s bird box together. Clearly they enjoy each other’s company, how sweet!
The peculiar sight completely stunned Laurie, she told National Geographic.
“The two of them were just sitting there side by side. It’s not believable. It’s not believable to me to this day, ” she explained.
At first, she was really worried the baby duckling may be eaten by the owl. So to put her fears at ease, she got in touch with a bird expert.
Unfortunately, the bird expert said this could happen, so Laurie called wildlife sanctuaries in her area, and convinced one to take the baby duckling in.
They gladly agreed, but asked her to catch it first. Easier than it sounds, it turns out!
She and her husband had a go at catching the cute bird, but it jumped out of the bird box and went to a nearby pond.
They haven’t seen the bird since!
“I don’t think I’ll ever experience anything like that in my life again,” Laurie said.
Apparently, wood ducks often lay their eggs in peculiar locations, such as other birds’ nests.
“It’s not commonly documented, but it certainly happens,” Christian Artuso told National Geographic.
“’You could think of it as not keeping all your eggs in one basket. If you spread your eggs out, then your chances of passing on your genes are increased slightly, especially if you lose your own eggs to a predator.
“We know this occurs, but we really don’t know the frequency. So I was happy to see another example of this.”
We hope the adorable duckling is safe!
Credit: National Geographic