GARDEN GROVE : Duck Family Makes Splash at Cathedral

Crystal Cathedral officials were in a quandary Wednesday over what to do with a duck and her seven ducklings who have found temporary lodging in a fountain at the church’s cemetery.

A crisis of sorts arose early Wednesday morning when the ducklings became separated from their mother as they swam in the three-tiered fountain and were washed down the fountain’s steps, said Don Bailey, a security guard. The family’s nest is in bushes at the top of the fountain, he said.

“They could get down the steps, but not back up,” Bailey said.

By afternoon, the mother duck stood on the bottom steps and tried to coax her offspring back up. They tried but failed to join her.

However, when Bailey turned off the fountain, the ducklings were able to hop up the steps. One of them jumped on the mother’s back for a ride around the pool.

“That was cute,” said Mildred Romero, a visitor from La Puente who had stopped to watch the rescue effort.

Bailey took off his shoes and waded into the fountain in a vain attempt to catch the ducks. “If we leave them here, they’re going to die from the chlorine,” he said.

The cathedral has a pond in San Juan Capistrano, where the ducks would be safe, Bailey said.

However, under federal laws aimed at protecting migratory animals, the ducks may not be moved from the fountain without the permission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, federal officials said.

But the ducks will eventually leave on their own, officials said.

“I would be surprised if the ducks would remain there for very long because they will have to feed,” said James Applegate, a federal wildlife biologist.

Another federal specialist confirmed that chlorine could harm the ducklings.

Tragedy has already struck the duck family. Bailey said that before the ducklings were born, their father was killed by a car as he was flying low over Chapman Avenue. “The papa was hit and the mama was just missed,” he said.