A young adult man, his wife, and their young child were enjoying some family time by the side of a creek when they came across a mother mallard squawking away in a nervous fashion.
A closer look at the bird revealed it was concerned about its duckling which was seemingly held in place close to the edge of the creek. For some reason, the mother mallard did not draw closer to its duckling than a foot length.
The young father, in the interest of doing a good deed, explained that he would wade into the muddy water and free the duckling. His wife insisted he refrain from physically engaging the bird and instead use a long stick to wedge it loose. The couple mildly disagreed about how to best help the duckling. Finally, the father acquiesced and searched for a stick. However, he was unable to find a stick long enough to reach the duckling.
Ultimately, he decided to get into the water and free the bird using his bare hands, much to the dismay of his wife. No sooner did he stick his hands into the opaque water than he discovered the cause of the duckling’s problem: one of its webbed feet was caught in the jaws of a turtle who was intent on eating it.
The sudden jerk of the turtle and the mother duck rushing the man startled him momentarily. In the end, he calmed himself down and used the stick to free the duckling which safely returned to its mother.