Mac handles the ducklings, turns them over and makes comforting little clicking noises at them. She works slowly and checks each of them from bill to tail. One after another, she places them back in the stainless steel box on the exam table. I’ve put a towel in the bottom of the box. Dr. Mac says that they’ll have firmer footing that way. But none of them is doing anything but lying still and breathing. “Brenna, it’s a good thing you kids found them. All three are weak. And this last one,” she says, holding the one I was worried about, “is in very bad shape. Let’s get them some water first.” Dr. Mac prepares a shallow dish of cool water with a little sugar mixed in. The ducklings stick their bills into the water, lift their heads slightly, and slurp it down right away. But the one we’re most worried about does not. Dr. Mac makes a note on her chart. I whisper, “You can do it.” The duckling just blinks.
