The continuing saga of the Duck

The continuing saga of the Duck


(you might want to read,” looking into the mind of a duck’, to catch up on the beginning of this adventure.)





Every time I would go to see the duck he would get very upset when I left him. He wanted to follow but didn’t want to leave the safety of the pond. So I figured he was lonely and called up a friend who I knew could get his hands on a female, mallard, duck. So I went over to his place and got the cage with the female duck inside. I brought the cage over to the pond where my duck was swimming around and let her go. She immediately swam over to him and at first he was a little afraid but eventually he got used to her and they became a unit. And for the next month he was one happy duck and she was very pleased with him and her new situation.



Then about a week ago, the temperature dropped to around 20 degrees and when I went to feed the ducks, the female was missing. There was a thin layer of ice on the pond so I thought maybe she was stuck somewhere. So I walked around the pond and I saw the trail of some animal on the ice which led to a hole in the ice. I figured something like a weasel had crawled out on to this very thin ice, jumped onto the female duck, and they both broke through the ice and drown. If the weasel had lived, he would have gotten the male duck to, but fortunately my duck went over to where I had been feeding him and waited for me to come back.



When I came back he jumped up on the bank and tried to tell me about the tragedy. He was covered with ice and shivering, so I picked him up, gave him a hug and brought him back with me to the barn. I couldn’t help thinking about Darwin’s survival of the fittest idea. Out of the three animals involved, only the duck who I had put my love and attention to survived. Maybe the element of love was the deciding factor here.



Anyway back to the story. The duck fit in well in the barn. He would follow me around when I did my chores and we would discuss his problems and options. He of course wanted to leave the barn but I didn’t think that was a wise decision. So we compromised and I took him for a little walk outside. And then to my amazement he took a running start, leaped into the air and flew off.



I figured if he could fly off he could fly back to if he wanted. But nevertheless I went to the brook in back of our house and found him there swimming around. He said he didn’t like the barn and wanted to stay in the brook. By this time I wasn’t sure if he really knew what was best for him but I certainly wasn’t going to wade out into the brook after him. So I left some feed and hoped for the best.



Well the best didn’t happen. The weather turned cold and we started to get lots of snow. I went everyday to visit him and give him the option of coming back but he didn’t want any part of my idea. Then today after more snow and a wind chill of around zero, I went to see how he was doing. Well most of the brook had frozen over except for the part the was running. My duck was in the current of the brook trying to keep himself from being dragged down stream. Things were getting serious here and I told him so. He had to shit or get off the pot real soon. But he wouldn’t come to the bank where I could get him so I had to say goodbye and started for the house. It was then that I heard a flapping sound and saw my duck fly out of the brook and land in about a foot of snow. He looked so funny with just his head sticking out of the snow. I ran over and picked him up and found there was a tear in my eye. That was such a leap of faith for him to trust that I would be there for him when he made himself completely helpless. Truly, the love of God materialized.