When a bobcat killed a wild duck in Los Gatos, one man rescued the eggs she left behind. On Tuesday, the first ducklings hatched.
For three years, the wild duck has visited Xiang Sun’s backyard to lay her eggs, but last week she was killed. Sun scooped up her 11 eggs, but he didn’t know what to do with them.
“Maybe I can do something,” he said. “I just searched on websites and [thought], 'Oh, maybe I can hatch some.' So I decided to hatch some. I just tried saving some lives.”
It turned into a welcome distraction during the coronavirus pandemic.
Having no clue how to hatch eggs, Sun turned to his neighborhood social media network for help. He was surprised when dozens of people responded with advice.
Sun placed the eggs under a lamp, rotating them 45 degrees every hour. He even put an “X” and “O” on each egg to keep track. Later, a neighbor dropped off an incubator.
“So many neighbors [are] helping me with suggestions and just encouraging me,” he said. “I think that it's a good ending. It's a good starting for the small ducklings.”
Sun said after all the ducklings hatch, he plans to take them to the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley.
