Geraldine the blind duck finds a new home after being bullied

A small duck who was bullied and harassed by other ducks at her pond has been adopted after locals raised concerns for her wellbeing.

Geraldine was rescued from Whitburn Pond in South Tyneside after locals noticed she was being excluded and pecked at by the other ducks.

The female duck, who has cataracts, was rushed to animal charity Pawz for Thought in Sunderland by a Good Samaritan.

Lynne Ebdale, founding director of the charity, said she received a ‘very concerned’ phone call from a resident about Geraldine’s eyesight.

‘They’d noticed she was going downhill because her feathers were getting a bit tatty and torn, and she was obviously going blind,’ Lynne said.

Just 20 minutes after the duck was brought in, two volunteers with a ‘weak spot for everything old and disabled’ dropped in and adopted Geraldine.

‘We haven’t got facilities here where she would have been very comfortable because we’ve got short-term pens and things,’ Lynne added.

‘It’s so busy here we cannot give her the cost of care that she needs. She needs to be able to find her food.

‘She always needs to be warm and dry and she needs to be safe from other animals, because other animals may target her eyes.’

Geraldine is now in a home where ‘every need will be met, her food will be where she can find it, she will have no competition from other birds and won’t be bullied or pecked at again’.

She will also have her cataracts checked by a vet in a few days.

Another duck in Chorley caught media attention for the wrong reasons – his naughty antics.

From following kids to school, chasing bin lorries and picking fights with foxes, Ham, a four-year-old Indian Runner Duck, became famous quickly in Chorley, Lancashire.

The mischievous animal, who was hand-reared by his family, is best friends with his owner’s son and even drinks cups of tea.

But Ham can’t seem to resist getting himself into trouble, and his wandering ways have earned him notoriety after his antics were shared online.

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