A duck can't quack, an OSU student tweets

Monday, June 2, 2014

Social media may have changed the way we communicate, but one thing remains loyal and true; the Cowboy Family looks after each other at Oklahoma State University.

Kelsey Ramb, a strategic communications senior at OSU, exemplified true orange pride when she noticed an injured duck on campus and used social media to bring awareness to the issue. She notified the OSU Twitter account on April 7, pleading for anyone to help a white duck with a fishhook in its bill. Once OSU received word of the injured duck, a team of OSU officials worked together to ensure the animal was properly treated and released back to Theta Pond.

“An animal control officer and the physical plant teamed up to catch the animal,” Lindsey M. Woods, DVM at the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, said in an e-mail. “They brought the duck in around 11 a.m., we removed the hook, gave her some oral pain medication, and fed her a nice meal.”

Thanks to Ramb’s tweet, OSU’s webbed-foot friend returned to Theta Pond happy and healthy on April 8. She recovered nicely, eating well after the hook was extracted, which barely left a scratch on her top and bottom bill.

OSU is proud of the teamwork the Cowboy community demonstrated and encourages anyone to report similar situations on campus. “Notify animal control when an animal is hurt or sick and cannot be easily and/or safely apprehended,” Woods said. “They will capture the animal and then they will bring it to us for medical treatment.”

Learn more about how OSU takes care of the Theta Pond Ducks on OStateTV: