Dead ducks found alongside illegally dumped drywall in Chilliwack nature reserve

Editor’s note: This story contains photos which some may find disturbing.

CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) – Michael Hill was searching through the Bert Brink Wildlife Management Area to investigate illegally dumped drywall when he made an even more troubling discovery last week.

The hazardous building materials inspector found the drywall he was looking for, but then his nose caught the stench of something decomposing.

“When I looked over to my right from where the illegally dumped drywall was, I noticed first off was one duck wrapped in duct tape,” Hill tells NEWS 1130.

He ended up finding six dead ducks, their wings wrapped in duct tape and some with plastic ties around their necks. He says it made him feel sick.

“What a disgusting thing for anybody to even do, especially in a protected area,” he said, adding the ducks looked as though they had only been there for a few days. “I’ve never seen a murder scene with ducks. It was just horrific is how I would describe it.”

The birds were dumped on a nesting area, according to Hill, and he can’t believe someone would do this in a protected area. Hill notified the management wildlife team with the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.

The Ministry says it’s believed they were dumped by a hunter who didn’t want to properly dispose of the carcasses. There are three trail cameras in the area, but they didn’t catch anything.

Illegal dumping is an ongoing issue in the area. Gates were installed on the gravel road into the area, but they have been either torn out or cut to pieces by blow torches.

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The only reason Hill says he found the ducks was because of the call about illegal drywall dumping. Otherwise he fears they never would have been found.

“I got called yesterday up to the Hope Slide, you know, there’s more than 30 bags of building materials gets dumped in the parking lot,” he said. “And this is all related to the recent closures of the asbestos receiving at the landfills Bailey (Landfill) in Chilliwack has reduced their limit to 20 bags per day and 100 max for people are being stuck with their garbage.”

– With files from Dean Recksiedler