We need a story with a happy ending, so here's one

Someone from Bloomberg sent me this story. It's not exactly Central Park Nature News, but our spirits need lifting. So here it is


Treasury Duck and 11 Ducklings Released to the Wild
2005-05-01 15:47 (New York)

By Vincent Del Giudice
May 1 (Bloomberg) -- The duck that made her home on a mulch
pile outside the U.S. Treasury and the 11 ducklings she hatched
there were released today to the wilds of an urban forest in
Washington.

A team of Agriculture Department wildlife biologists took
the brown mallard and her offspring from the makeshift pen on the
sidewalk in front of the Treasury where she was guarded by Secret
Service officers and became a favored attraction of tourists and
Treasury Secretary John Snow.

The biologists were surprised to find two more ducklings
than expected. The mother duck -- with the help of the federal
agents -- kept close guard on her roost and their best guess was
that she had nine eggs.

The mother and her yellow-and-black flock were rounded up
and placed in the back of a red government pickup truck for a 15-
minute ride to Rock Creek Park, which runs through the
northwestern part of the city.
``It's a great ending to the story,'' said Jean Card, a
Treasury spokeswoman as she watched their release at 9:47 a.m.
Washington time.

After spending a little time in a holding pen to get
acclimated to the park, 10 chicks kept pace with the mother --
variously nicknamed by Treasury employees as Duck Cheney, T-Bill
and Quacks Reform --as she waddled across the grass to the muddy
banks of Rock Creek.

Alas, there's always one in the family, and duckling No. 11
was late leaving the container.
The confused bundle of feathers stumbled at the top of the
bank, flipped over -- its webbed feet churning in the air --
regained its footing, flipped again and splashed into the creek.
It paddled furiously and caught up with the convoy as it
headed south, in the direction of the Potomac River.

The duck took up residence at the beginning of April on the
mulch pile around a tree that is on the pedestrian area of
Pennsylvania Avenue and steps away from 15th Street, a busy
thoroughfare. The ducklings began hatching yesterday.

``We hope for a better life and a better location away from
all this traffic,'' biologist Kevin Sullivan, who took part in
the relocation, said.