A tale of two ducks...

Once upon a time there was a Mama Mallard and a Papa Mallard that lived in our neighborhood. They could be seen on any given day hanging out by the fire pit in our back yard. Or they'd recline on our front steps till we'd open the door for the newspaper in the morning and scare them off.

Then one day Mama duck crawled under the bush of the Mohr's house across the street from us. A nest in the bush was soon made by Mama. Rumors began to run rampant. While some accounts had her laying as many as 16 eggs, others were convinced there were only 10-12. As for Papa Mallard, once the eggs were deposited in the nest and Mama began incubating them, well... sightings of Papa were scarce. While most everyone preferred to believe he was down preparing the water for his babies, others were convinced he had taken up with ... well... another... duck.     Anywho... Mama was left to fend for herself.

The countdown was on! Mama faithfully laid on her eggs. On occasion she'd be seen leaving in the direction of the pond, but only for 45 minutes or so and she'd return. Oh the suspense as the neighbors counted down the days till the babies would hatch out of their eggs.

Concern grew one day as a single egg was discovered outside the nest. But the other eggs seemed secure and fingers were crossed for the survival of the rest of the baby ducks.

Finally the big day arrived. On May the 18th,in the late afternoon, out from under the bush Mama appeared. Within minutes, with some beckoning quacks from Mama, 5 little ducklings emerged!!

With glee, the neighbors took turns staring out the front window attempting to catch a glimpse of the new babies. But Mama quickly corralled them back under the bush where we could see that there were 5 or 6 more eggs left to hatch.  We watched and continued to worry about when she would attempt to move them to water.  Our streets are so busy we wanted to help her on the journey if we could.

















But nature had other plans for Mama and her brood.

Yesterday was the last time Mama and her babies were seen in their nest under the bush.  Under the cover of darkness last night, Mama led her babies off to destinations unknown.  Some think she went to the pond by the park.  Others think she may have went down to the coulee.

We may never know.  We'll simply be left with a few scattered eggs, a nest, and a tale of two ducks.

 




.