New England Snippets
Nurse Duck
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Mallet's Bay
Colchester
Vermont
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© 2007 Gail Hunter All Rights Reserved
NURSE DUCK - PAGES 13 - 20
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A few days later, I looked everywhere,
but our lone duck could not be found.
I’m afraid he paid the price for going off
by himself and had probably ended up
being dinner for a turtle.
I was very sad, but remembered the
"Law of the Jungle" that all grown-up
animals know. The strongest survive,
and that is why the ducks kept such a
close watch on their four remaining
babies.
The ducklings continued to grow and
were soon half the size of their parents.
Then one day, a strange thing happened.
A large white duck with a bright yellow
bill swam into the bay. She was alone.
Soon, she began to hang around with
our special family. There they would
go: mother, father, white duck and the
four remaining babies.
Then, an even stranger thing happened.
One day, the four ducklings came out of
the rushes without their father and mother.
The white duck was with them. She acted
like a baby-sitter for an hour or so, then
she took them home.
This became a daily event. That, and
because of her white "uniform," I named
her "Nurse Duck.”
As the ducklings grew, they began to
wander away from each other. Then, with
a series of loud "Quacks," Nurse Duck
would scurry around and gather them in to
her side.
I think she liked the sound of her
"Quack" because it began to get louder
and lasted longer.
Sometimes, new boats would come to the
marina and feed crackers to Nurse Duck.
I guess she put "Quack" and "cracker"
together. Too bad, because she made so
much noise begging for “quackers” that
people got mad at her. She even taught
the ducklings to quack. Their parents had
always been so peaceful and quiet.
Fall has come. It's hard to tell which are
the babies now. They are almost as big
as their parents. I think three are boys,
but I can't tell. Their heads haven't turned
to that bright blue/green yet. They are all
still swimming around, but no longer in
family groups.
Nurse Duck is still in the bay, but not on
duty. She just keeps on with her
quacking, waiting for next spring.
I'll look for her then, but now that my leg is
healed, it's time to go back to school
I hope that you will find some animal
friends to get to know as well as I have.
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It's OK if they say "Honk," or "Oink,"
or "Arf." But watch out for the ones
that say "Grrr!."