Keizertimes., June 25, 2021, Page 6, Image 6

PAGE A6, KEIZERTIMES, JUNE 25, 2021
Ducklings take to water, rescue follows
Feel -Good
STORY
Saluting the people that make
us proud of our community
presented by
By BROOKLYN FLINT
Of the Keizertimes
Monday, June 7, was a normal evening
for Dave Greer until he noticed a female
mallard sitting still in a gutter.
Greer was out with his wife delivering
for DoorDash when he spotted the duck
on Aldridge Drive North. He fi nished
the delivery and when he came back, the
duck was still there.
“I stopped and walked over toward
it but she never moved. She didn’t walk
away,” Greer said. He suspected that
something was wrong.
“A couple of neighbors came out and
were kind of wondering what was going
on. I can’t sit on my hands for very long
so I wandered over there,” Greer said.
As Greer moved closer to the duck and
the drain next to it, he started to hear a
few cheeps. He suspected right away that
there were baby ducks stuck under the
drain, but he could only make out move-
ment in the water.
Greer called Keizer Fire District’s busi-
ness number, but didn’t wait long before
taking action of his own.
He managed to pull the drain off and
saw what looked to be a half-dozen duck-
lings. He called the fi re district again and
LIFE
Dave Greer and his wife drove by a mother duck sitting nervously by a drain while making a delivery. Not long afterward, he was conducting
a rescue operation for eight ducklings with the help of neighbors. Submitted photo
suggested they bring a net.
“The lady whose house I was stand-
ing in front of came out to see what was
going on and she had a butterfl y net in
her hands. She had just bought it that
day,” Greer said.
Greer off ered the woman the chance to
play rescuer, but she declined.
After fi shing around in the drain for
fi ve minutes – he was careful because
he didn’t want to smash one of them up
against the drain wall – Greer pulled
out three ducklings on his fi rst go. Once
out of danger, the ducklings ran to their
mother near a garage door. By the time he
was fi nished, eight ducklings were lined
up against the garage with their mom.
It was an unexpected fl ourish to end
his day, but Greer said attention to detail
was what gave away the duck’s plight.
“I used to be a fi refi ghter and paying
attention to little things like that duck
sitting at the drain was part of the job,”
Greer said.
Monster Cookie returns, will start in Keizer
For the fi rst time ever, the annual Monster Cookie Metric
Century Bike Ride will be starting in Keizer at Keizer Rapids
Park. There will be three rides available on August 29 and those
that are interested can register now.
The three rides include the Mini Cookie which is 6.2 miles
long, Half Cookie which is 31 miles, and the Big Cookie which
is 62 miles. Tickets for the Half Cookie and the Big Cookie ride
are $45 for adults. The Mini Cookie is free for kids under 10 and
$6 for adults.
The Monster Cookie will bike to Champoeg State Park and
back, Half Cookie will bike to Zielinski Farm and back, and
Mini Cookie will travelalong local bike paths. Everyone will
meet back at Keizer Rapids Park for a monster cookie.
Pre-registration ends on August 23. Registrations can be
made online at www.BikeReg.com/monstercookie.
Worship DIRECTORY
These Salem-Keizer houses of worship invite you to visit. Call to list your church in our Worship Directory: 503-390-1051
YOUR CHURCH'S
LISTING HERE.
www.KeizerChristian.org
Call Bill at 503.390.1051