There are even stories of apes and wolves taking in human babies that had been left to fend for themselves.

But this one might be a first…

When a man from Australia realized his duck had hatched out a clutch of baby ducklings he was ecstatic. He couldn’t wait to count them and see how many had hatched.

But when he got Mama Duck to come off her nest for a few minutes, he was stunned to find that she had more in her nest than just ducklings.

It reminded him of that old children’s game, “Which one of these is not like the others?”

Nestled in amidst the downy ducklings, warmed by mama duck’s body, was a baby bandicoot!

A bandicoot is a marsupial, similar to an opossum, that is considered a predator for ducks and other fowl.

But mama duck had apparently decided that this one was her baby, and she intended to care for it along with her own children.

In the past, when the duck’s owner, Rex, had come in contact with bandicoots on his property, they had been on the prowl to kill his chickens and ducks.

But not this time!

He wasn’t quite sure what he should do but in the end the mama duck made the decision for him.

When he reached for the baby, she made it clear that was her baby and he wasn’t supposed to bother it!

Watching the mama duck taking care of her adopted baby set Rex to thinking about how differently the animal kingdom works as opposed to our human world.

The duck wasn’t judging the bandicoot by its appearance. She just knew he was tiny and needed help, so she gave it.

As a result, he decided to let nature play out and see what happened.

So far, the little guy has survived, even though mama duck can’t provide it with the sustenance that its own mama would have given it.

When mom and dad take the family out for a walk, the bandicoot (that Rex named Bandi) stays behind and takes care of the nest while they’re gone.

When they return, he nestles back in with his feathered brothers and sisters for a nice nap.

Good luck to this little family!

Hopefully little Bandi will grow up happy and healthy with them and become a “guard bandicoot” for them against other marauders.

Source: Honest to Paws

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