ABANDONED DUCKS MAY FIND NEW HOME.Byline: Andrea Cavanaugh Staff Writer NORTHRIDGE - When Tammy Fennel fennel, common name for several perennial herbs, genus Foeniculum vulgare of the family Umbelliferae (parsley family), related to dill. The strawlike foliage and the seeds are licorice-scented and are used (especially in Italian cooking) for flavoring. got evicted from her home last week, she was forced to leave all of her roommates behind - a flock of four dozen Muscovy ducks. With nowhere to go, Fennel, 37, turned to her neighbor, Paulette Jolliffe, who runs a dog rescue group. Scores of animal lovers responded to her e-mailed appeals for assistance. ``It's phenomenal,'' Jolliffe said. ``Everyone wants to help the ducks.'' Jolliffe found a sanctuary in Norco willing to take all of the ducks from Fennel's Tunney Avenue home, but needed to find a way to transport them there. Follow-up pleas produced a 14-foot trailer and a truck to pull it. Today, Jolliffe, Fennel and a group of volunteers will attempt to corral corral a small fenced-in enclosure with high, wooden fences, suitable for holding cattle or horses. corral system a management system in which range cattle are put into corrals and fed hay for a period when the environment is most the birds into carriers for the trip to the sanctuary. ``I've been wringing wring v. wrung , wring·ing, wrings v.tr. 1. To twist, squeeze, or compress, especially so as to extract liquid. Often used with out. 2. my hands,'' Jolliffe said. ``I don't really know how to catch ducks.'' Terry Whatley, director of Village Pond Rescue and Rehabilitation, the bird sanctuary bird sanctuary: see wildlife refuge. that agreed to take the ducks, said it's the biggest flock of birds she's ever been asked to take from a private home. ``That's an awful lot of ducks to have in a back yard.'' Fennel said she didn't set out to have four dozen ducks in her back yard. She started out with two mallards, and, when the male disappeared, the female, which Fennel named Cinnamon, was heartbroken heart·bro·ken adj. Suffering from or exhibiting overwhelming sorrow, grief, or disappointment. heart . To replace the mallard mallard: see duck. mallard Abundant “wild duck” (Anas platyrhynchos, family Anatidae) of the Northern Hemisphere, ancestor of most domestic ducks. The mallard is a typical dabbling duck in its general habits and courtship display. , Fennel got a couple of Muscovy ducks, a type of South American waterfowl waterfowl, common term for members of the order Anseriformes, wild, aquatic, typically freshwater birds including ducks, geese, and screamers. In Great Britain the term is also used to designate species kept for ornamental purposes on private lakes or ponds, while in that can grow to up to 18 pounds. A group of five ducks and a drake can produce up to 100 ducklings per year. Apparently, conditions in Fennel's back yard were ripe for romance because, before she knew it, she had more ducklings underfoot than she knew what to do with. ``They're worse than rabbits,'' she said. ``I had no idea.'' Fennel, who placed newspaper ads offering the ducks for adoption, has managed to place about 20 of them in new homes, she said. Fennel and her 12-year-old daughter, Janae Michelle, named many of the birds and said each one has its own distinctive personality and look. Web sites about Muscovies portray them as an unusual hybrid of pet and food source, extolling their personable PERSONABLE. Having the capacities of a person; for example, the defendant was judged personable to maintain this action. Old Nat. Brev. 142. This word is obsolete. intelligence and comparing their meat to veal. Fennel's flock of feathered feath·ered adj. 1. Covered, provided, or adorned with feathers. 2. Having feathering, as an animal's coat. 3. Moving swiftly: feathered feet. 4. friends has created a nightmare for Dennis Adkins, whose mother owns the home Fennel was evicted from. ``This has turned into a big fiasco,'' Adkins said. ``We've got to get those ducks out of the yard.'' If the ducks are not removed from the yard, the city's animal control department will take them, but the birds must be delivered to a shelter, said Jackie David, a spokeswoman for the department. But Jolliffe is confident that the situation will resolve itself long before then. The response from animal lovers has been overwhelming, she said. ``There's more in the world than cruelty and what you see on the news every night,'' she said. ``People are much more connected than I realized.'' Andrea Cavanaugh, (818)713-3669 andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Tammy Fennel and her daughter, Janae Michelle Fennel, left, recently had to move out of the Northridge home they rented, leaving behind their friends: four dozen ducks. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer |
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