Your answer
Give it a way out, then leave the family to it.
Ducklings and goslings end up in swimming pools, drains, window wells and walled courtyards because they can walk or swim in but cannot climb or fly out. The mother usually waits nearby, calling. The answer is almost always a way out rather than a rescue: once the young are free, the family gathers again on its own.
What to do right now
- 01For a pool, give them a ramp: a plank or a rough mat leaning from the water to the edge, or a float tied to the ladder. Then move away so the mother can lead them out.
- 02For a window well or a walled yard, lay a board as a ramp or open a gate, and move out of sight.
- 03For a storm drain, call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Getting chicks out of a drain safely takes equipment, and drains can flood without warning.
- 04Watch from a distance until the family is together and has left.
What not to do
- Do not climb into the pool or reach into the drain. The chicks scatter and wear themselves out.
- Do not carry them to a pond yourself. The mother decides where they go, and she will not follow a stranger.
- Do not feed them.
Change your mind if any of this is true
Any one of these changes the answer above. Call a rehabilitator instead.
- A chick is floating limply, or has been in the water a long time and is shivering.
- There is no adult anywhere nearby.
- A chick is injured, or a cat or dog touched it.
Get professional help
Tell us where you are — your state, then your county — and we will list the people licensed to take it there, nearest to you first. Rehabilitators are licensed by their own state, which is why we ask.
Understand the animal
Knowing why this happens is what makes the next one easier to read.