Public Invited to Visit Displaced Ducks

The Wildlife Waystation will hold an “At Home” celebration for the “Prudential Ducks,” the popular former denizens of the insurance company’s Woodland Hills headquarters who were displaced in May to make way for a parking lot.

From 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday, the Wildlife Waystation invites the public to become reacquainted with the 100 or so ducks and geese while it shows off their new compound, funded by Prudential Health Care.

“It took two weeks, a lot of netting and some tender, loving care to round up the flock for the trip to their new home, which is an enclosed compound with a pond, grass and shade trees,” Waystation founder Martine Colette wrote in a prepared statement.

“I’m sorry that such an attractive part of the Woodland Hills neighborhood will no longer be there, but the new home at the Waystation will be less stressful for the displaced ducks,” Colette said.

The ducks, residing for years in three man-made ponds on the Prudential grounds near the intersection of Canoga Avenue and Burbank Boulevard in Warner Center, delighted pedestrians and employees alike.

Prudential officials said in May that the ducks were being moved due to threats brought on by increased traffic and pollution in the area. However, a Prudential memo sent to employees earlier in the month stated that the ducks were being relocated “to make way for approximately 400 new parking spaces.”

That minor controversy aside, no one doubts that the ducks will be well cared for at the Waystation’s 160-acre Angeles National Forest property.

“We all enjoyed them and we’re really sorry to see them go,” said a Prudential employee who asked not to be identified. “But I think they’ll be a lot safer at the Waystation.”

The Wildlife Waystation is located at 14831 Little Tujunga Canyon Road in the Angeles National Forest. For more information, call (818) 899-5201.