A Stitch in Time

A story by owner, Carly Clark

When I was a child we had so many ducks. Khaki Campbell’s to be precise.

We started with just the two. El Guapo (who we named after the villain from the movie Three Amigos) & Cassandra (The totally awesome babe from the movie Wayne’s World)

El Guapo and Cassandra went on to have many babies….maybe close to fifty. It would drive my father crazy as they marched one by one up to our house each day, climb the stairs and poop all over the concrete on our verandah. My father was forever hosing off the back doorstep while swearing at the ducks under his breath. We loved them though.

One fine day I took my little dog ‘Muffin’ out for a walk. We’d normally go paddock to paddock and eventually end up at the dam where she’d have a swim while I’d pat the horse, before we’d turn and head for home.

It was on one of these walks I found a dying duck. One of the ducklings had been attacked by a fox and been left for dead. Its chest was wide open and although I could see its insides he hadn’t given up yet.

I picked up the baby, took it home found the first aid & sewing kit and began stitching it up with a needle and thread.

They tell me now that I used about $30 worth of first aid equipment on that duck with all the Medipulve and Betadine I used. Anyway, I bandaged him up and put him in the chook cage away from the other ducks to recover.

When my folks got home I told them what I’d done. Mum (on the quiet) asked my father to go outside, find the duck and put it out of its misery before I got too attached.  Dad returned 10min later with a look of surprise, “The bloody thing is alive and kicking” he said. “Stitches” as I affectionately named him went on to life a long and happy life at our family farm. Much to the shock of my parents.

I had a similar case recently at Splitters Farm when one late afternoon out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the neighbours dog run past my back door with one of my geese in its mouth.

I flew out the door, grabbed the goose and screamed at the dog to go home. Inside the house I put the goose in the shower cubical to try and calm it down in a dark space until I inspected its wounds. I rang hubby and asked him to bring home a suture kit…hell I could do it again, it’s been a while and I’ve advanced my veterinarian skills since then right?

He just scoffed, said that there was no hope of saving the goose but that he’d drop off at a chemist on his way home and grab the suture kit just like I’d requested.  Happy wife, happy life......

When he got home and saw the goose he doubted my chances even more. We sat the goose on the kitchen bench and I sutured his skin back together. I caged him then for several weeks and changed his dressings daily to prevent infection.

This goose, which I have never named, has survived to live another day also. I should have been a vet in hindsight, I would have made a lot more money but let’s face it but can you imagine how many sick and injured animals I’d bring home?

My lucky goose now roams Splitters Farm with his other goose friends and is the friendliest of the bunch. He has a beautiful nature and blue eyes if you’re ever wondering which one he is.