Panic as Cat catches Duckling, turns out she was nurturing it
In Clara, Co. Offaly, Ronan and Emma Lally eagerly awaited the arrival of baby ducklings on their Irish farm. One morning, they discovered the eggs had hatched, but the ducklings were nowhere to be found.
Fearing the worst, especially with a cat on the farm, they searched for the missing ducklings. To their amazement, they discovered the cat, who had recently given birth to kittens, had adopted the ducklings into her own litter and was even nursing them.
Ronan initially wanted to separate the unconventional family, worried that the cat’s predatory instincts might emerge. However, Emma, a midwife, convinced him to let them stay together.
As the ducklings grew, they soon outgrew their kitten siblings and their adoptive cat mother. Despite this, they all remained close and even became the subject of a BBC nature series on unusual animal friendships.
