Concordia residents cover storm drains for safety of area ducks
JEFFERSON TWP — A handful of residents at the large Concordia Lutheran Ministries campus on Marwood Road can be seen waddling around the property this time of year carrying wire mesh, tin snips and zip ties, but don’t think they’re “quackers.”
Concerned about the potential for and actual history of ducklings falling into the many storm drain grates on the campus, resident Bud Spears and maintenance man Max Baptiste began collaborating to make the storm drain grates safe after a near tragedy occurred at the nature-loving residential and skilled care facility.
“In 2019, we lost a couple ducks in a storm drain, and we had to fish them out,” Spears said.
Spears began searching the campus for some type of mesh he could use to cover a few storm drains while allowing stormwater to continue to freely enter the drains.
In March 2019, Spears scavenged what he calls “rat wire” from the large garden on the campus, cut it to fit six storm drains, covered the drains, and set bricks or large rocks on top to hold the mesh down.
“And we lost no ducks,” Spears said.
“I thought it was a good idea because one time, they had to call the fire department because there were ducks (in a storm drain), and we couldn’t get them out,” Baptiste said.
Soon after, while tossing seeds to the ducks in the campus’ large pond, Spears met resident Rick Alexander, who was walking his dog around the paved path encircling the pond.
He told Alexander about his mission to cover the grates and save the ducks, and by 2021, Alexander was running the program.
“The idea was I wanted to add five (grate covers) per year,” Alexander said.
Fast forward to today, and the men, with the help of Baptiste and a handful of other residents, have installed 50 covers over the storm drain grates at the Concordia campus.
Spears said Alexander switched from weighing the grate covers down with bricks — which occasionally presented a challenge to landscapers mowing the grass — to using plastic zip ties to attach them to the grates.
The group of men also mend any mesh that is damaged, and combine pieces of mesh to create a sheet big enough to cover a storm drain.
They have never purchased any rat wire for their project.
“We’ve found it up at the junk pile or down at the garden,” Spears said.
Alexander said it takes about 20 minutes to cover one storm drain, so the 50 grates are all covered in about two weeks in the spring.
“That doesn’t cover all of them, but it covers the ones the ducklings are most likely to fall into,” he said.
Alexander created a map on his computer denoting the location of every storm drain grate on campus so those that have been covered can be checked off the list.
The grates remain in place from late April until fall. They are removed so they are not plowed up and destroyed by snow removal trucks in the winter.
They are stored in the maintenance building until the following spring.
Spears said the project is important because many ducks stop to rest at the Concordia ponds or take up residence and nest there because the campus is in a “flyway” the birds use to migrate.
Many types of ducks, plus a few Canada geese, call the Concordia pond home, with one nest holding a dozen eggs.
The ducks and their young are an adorable source of natural entertainment for Concordia residents, who can get a cup of feed to lay out near the pond for the ducks.
Spears said personal care and skilled nursing patients from the campus’ Lund Building are brought to the pond in the summer to enjoy the high jinks displayed by the ducks and to feed them cracked corn.
Unfortunately, the pond also is the watery home of several snapping turtles.
“And they eat ducks,” Spears said.
Luckily, the ducks population at Concordia is too plentiful to be completely depleted by the snappers, which dine on about half the ducks that land on the pond, Alexander said.
Spears said he has noticed an increased population of ducks on the property since 2019 when the grate-covering project began.
“I’ve seen a lot more little duckies this year than I ever have,” said Spears, whose balcony faces the pond.
Alexander is happy to run the program now to keep all the ducks safe.
“Bud inspired me,” he said of his decision to take over the program. “He’s a real hero around here.”
The efforts of the duck-loving group has not gone unnoticed by officials at Concordia.
“Concordia is blessed to support both our residents and staff in the care they have for God’s creatures,” said Connor Hagey, director of retirement living at Concordia Lutheran Ministries.
