I fear my duck is gone for good

August 31, 2017 • 3:00 pm

It’s been more than 24 hours since I’ve set eyes on my mallard hen Honey, and I think this time she’s gone for good. Now I know I’ve said this before, but I have that feeling. . .  Plus tomorrow is my last full day in Chicago, and if I don’t see her then, well, it’s bye-bye duckie.

I was disconsolate making three trips to the pond today, laden with corn and mealworms, only to find. . . . nothing.

Pas de canard:

55 thoughts on “I fear my duck is gone for good”

  2. Yeah, this is bumming me out too. Also, I thought the second image was a “find the retired professor” exercise.

    5. I clicked through to enlarge, and think I spotted another Jerry, to the right of the tree that’s above the bridge. Of course, it could be a lesser-spotted Jerry 🙂

      1. 😎
        The two species are hard to distinguish. Identifying marks are subtle – for example the skeptical arch of the eyebrow.

  12. I am wondering if the light on the front of my car is working. It’s on, it’s off. It’s on, it’s off.

  13. It’s like when you decide to break up with your girlfriend but before you have a chance to tell her she breaks up with you. You should be happy but somehow you’re not.

  14. I’m sorry, Jerry. It’s good that you’re dealing with your feelings, but I still feel you should perhaps go see a psychoanalyst 😉

    And make sure to take plenty of cocaine

    1. Yeah! Bloody shrinks, always cadging off your stash and never dipping a spoon into their own pocket.

  15. My absolute sympathies. The entire story certainly makes us think about profundities.
    Smiles and hopes….

  19. “Seducktion…was both a science and art – a blend of skill, discipline, proximity, and opportunity. Mostly proximity.” – Dan Simmons, Author of Hyperion

    Honey might come back. It actually doesn’t look like you’re too distraught but am sorry if you are. You look relaxed and happy. I like the duck posts so I hope she comes back.

  20. Is it possible that she might come back in the spring? Might she turn up again when it’s time for new baby ducklings? Be sure to check the pond when it’s baby duck time again.

  22. I do think Honey will be back next spring. I had a pair of wild Mallards visit us for a number of years, just to nom under the birdfeeders. They were fond of perching atop the shed, much like a wind vane. Then the female would float down to the ground and feed while the male kept watch. And then it was his turn.

  23. The allure of birds to humans interests me, considering we are not even the same class. I feel nothing for other chordata, although I would not harm them for no good reason. But I love most mammals and birds. Is it simply because they are endothermic?

    1. Regarding birds, a long time ago I heard the hypothesis that humans & birds share the trait of being highly visually-oriented. It was pointed out that people go out to the field to watch birds, but not to smell mammals. Both taxa also tend to be highly aware of colors.

    2. Diane’s got a good point, but there’s the general one that they trigger our nurturing feelings to some degree, being warm, furry and having eyes.
      The classic description of the “dead eyes” of sharks – wonderfully adapted chordates though they are – probably points at where humans have a problem with them.

    3. They are also often highly colourful (related to the vision thing someone else mentioned) and also often highly intelligent. I think maybe also the fact that some common species are also very *social* is a thing too.

  24. “She’s leaving home”
    “bye bye”

    The harp was played by Sheila Bromberg, the first female musician to appear on a Beatles record.

  25. Prof Coyne- Your story is close to my heart. A few years ago when I was at a local park with my young daughter, a tiny mallard duckling who seemed not to be attached to any other parents or groups of ducks waddled up to my daughter and seemed to imprint on her on the spot. We ended up taking the duckling home (a bad idea, possibly illegal) and raised her to adulthood. She was the best of pets, following us everywhere. I woke up from a nap in the backyard one afternoon with a duck snoozing in the crook of my arm. We have videos of a hilarious backyard birthday party where she went on a rampage with everyone’s cake and drinks.

    Anyway, long story short, when she became fully fledged, one day she took off. We searched for her for weeks. My daughter (and wife)_were brokenhearted. It left a feeling of sadness that still returns from time to time to this day. In my mind, it was an illustration of the preciousness of life, the very unexpected good things that happen from time to time, and how very fragile and temporary those things can be.

    Anyway, thanks for sharing stories and photos of Honey. I wish her, and you, all the best.

    1. Nice story. 🙂 That you took care of her so well is probably the reason she lived to take wing when the time was right, and meanwhile she enriched your lives as only caring for another living being does.

  26. I was disconsolate making three trips to the pond today,

    Campus police are searching for a stalker after a complaint received from a local mallard.

    Personally, I think Honey is tucked up in a nesting box somewhere, with occasional trips outside to be fed. She’s reading Mark Twain’s autobiography (another water-dweller) and particularly the bits about the repeated reports of his departure.

  28. I suspect someone else has started feeding her at some other watering hole. You’re better off without her!

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