VIDEO: Duck gets cold feet when it comes to learning to swim

He was supposed to take to it like a duck to water but this little duckling goes quackers every time his webbed feet get wet.

Now, the students who were there at his birth have hatched a cunning plan to get the newborn swimming.

The students of Mount Mercy college in Cork handed their treasured hand-reared duckling over to Rumley’s Open Farm on the city’s outskirts yesterday where he is set to start swimming lessons.

The duckling was the star of a practical science experiment at the Bishopstown school earlier this month.

Biology teacher, Aaron O’Sullivan, a UL graduate who teaches first to fifth year students, brought some eggs in to his biology lab to help bring science to life. The eggs were kept in a temperature and humidity-controlled incubator at the back of the room for about four weeks.

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“I was trying to link science to a real-life application,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

“The students learned about cell division and it was a real novelty. It was just another way of stimulating students’ minds, of getting them interested in science.

“The school has a great reputation, especially for science, and there is huge enthusiasm amongst students for the science subjects.

“Experiments like this encourage them to appreciate the wonder of nature and our aim is to encourage them to reach their full potential.”

The duckling was an Easter baby — hatching the Friday before the holidays.

Mr O’Sullivan took him home and hand-reared him, with the help of his two housemates, for the next two weeks. But despite his best efforts to get him to swim, the duckling refused.

After the school holidays, he brought the duckling back to school, where he spent four days in the classroom.

Students also tried to encourage him to swim and last week, managed to persuade him to dip his webbed toes into a dish of water.

But the time came for him to find a proper home, and Mr O’Sullivan and the students decided to hand him over to Rumley’s Open Farm at Waterfall.

“Some of the students became so attached to him, and so fond of him, we thought Rumley’s would be the best place because it’s so close to the school, and they could visit if they wanted,” the teacher said.

Rumley’s said they were delighted to introduce the Mount Mercy Duck to some new feathered friends, and were looking forward to helping him learn to swim.

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