Some of the campus’ most curious residents decided to stop by the Destination Project construction site recently to see if they could lend a helping hoof. Three new deer fawns were found to be making themselves comfortable in the site’s construction fencing after escaping the watchful eye of their mothers.
Destination Project coordinator, Nicole Bach said while the fresh little fawns were definitely the cutest addition to the project’s team, they were relieved of their duties soon after they were discovered.
“I phoned Fish and Wildlife services and Officer Corey Craig came out to the site. Officer Craig took over from there and was able to capture and carry out each of the fawns and reunite them with their moms” said Bach.
Wildlife Officer Cory Craig carrying the fawn to be reunited with it’s mother.
PCL construction staff and Fish and Wildlife worked with great care and interest to ensure the construction fencing was moved to allow the fawns an easy path out of the site. PCL Superintendent Daryl Campbell says while the University and PCL take every measure to ensure that wildlife is protected from the site, sometimes curiosity gets the better of some of the animals on campus.
“We work on very diverse projects throughout the province and throughout the country as well as North America. In all of those areas we have different habitats that we have to work with and it’s certainly a priority of ours to ensure that we’re symbiotic with nature in terms of what we’re trying to achieve,” says Campbell. “We have a job to do but from an environmental point of view, it’s paramount to us to ensure that we have the least amount of impact on the environment that we can.”
The very same week a feathered expectant mother was also discovered to be making herself right at home on the site. A Mallard duck was found nesting with 11 eggs firmly under her protective watch. The Destination Project’s excavation area fell just short of where the duck had made her nest and yet again project staff came to the rescue. After Fish and Wildlife identified the duck was indeed a Mallard, the soon-to-be mother was given a wide berth and lots of room to relax and wait for her ducklings’ hatch.
Mother mallard
“Fish and Wildlife said the ducklings would take a few weeks to hatch so PCL just took over and said they encounter this type of situation all the time,” said Bach. “Not only did PCL enclose the space they also added a perimeter fence inside of it with red tape to ensure people knew to leave the area alone. They were just wonderful about it, to see these big, burly guys taking such care around this little duck and her eggs was so cute.”
When the construction crew noticed the duck moving around and away from her nest, Bach followed the new mother around to find 10 ducklings following in a neat little line behind her. Bach then worked to ensure there was a clear and safe path out of the construction zone so the ducks could find their way down to the river. The new little family of 11 were seen enjoying their new surroundings and splashing about safe and sound in the Oldman River shortly afterwards.