Man rescues baby duck who grows up and refuses to leave his side
Seeing people bond with animals is always heartwarming, especially when it’s an unlikely friendship that was unexpected in the first place. Like this man who saved a baby duck from drowning and nursed him back to health. Now all grown up, the duck refuses to go back into the wild.
After rescuing a little duckling from his pool, this man raises him to adulthood and tries to set him free but he won’t leave
Steven Thibeault of Nahant, Massachusetts, rushed to the aid of a drowning duck one day when he noticed the little guy struggling to swim in his complex’s pool and quickly scooped him out.
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Steven tried to find the baby duckling’s mother, but she was nowhere to be found. That’s when he took the tiny duck home and named him, Cheerio. The two instantly formed a strong bond, Steven even made an Instagram for the duck @cheeriotheduck. As a baby, Steven carried Cheerio around on his shoulder everywhere with him.
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Once Cheerio became an adult, Steven thought it would be right to set him free but the duck had other plans
Cheerio is a free-roaming duck that just loves Steven too much to leave him. The amazing thing, Cheerio goes out into the wild while his dad’s at work but always ends up coming back to Steven.
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“He is pretty much on my schedule so we come to work, he spends most of the day outside and after work we go home,” Steven explained The Dodo. “He does have a social life, he has spent time with other ducks which makes me happy, but at the end of the day he chooses me. That could change one day but that’s up to him.”
Steven has always made it a point to let Cheerio come and go as he pleases
Even though Steven rescued his little duck bestie, he knows he’s an animal and wants him always to have the option to leave. Who knows, Cheerio might find a girl duck and start a family one day!
“He gets along great with other ducks, especially males. He is a little shy when it comes to the ladies at this point in his life but hopefully, that will change. He also hangs out with other duck and geese species like eider ducks, mallards, and brant geese who spend their winters here in Nahant. He also has a few seagull buddies too,” Said Steven.
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The people at the complex where Steven manages have made friends with Cheerio as well, he’s a bit of a local celebrity there.
Cheerio loves other animals, especially his sister cat who he spends lots of time with
Cheerio is an extremely friendly duck, he and his cat sister, Reeses, enjoy playing with each other and playing with Steven’s parents’ dog too. Steven never expected that rescuing that little duckling all those years ago would have lead to this, but I’m sure he’s glad it did.
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What an awesome story, it makes me want to rescue a duck so I can have a new best friend too. I doubt I’d get as lucky as Steven did with Cheerio, the fact that he comes back to him every day is just incredible. To see a fun video of Cheerio being a duck, watch the video below!
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Source: Instagram, The Dodo, Shareably/Animal Channel
