When a duck thinks you're mommy
When a duck thinks you're mommy
Transcript
00:00 My husband called me in the garage and he's got this little duckling in his hand.
00:04 We looked everywhere for his mommy or family and we didn't see anything.
00:08 We live on a lake.
00:08 I believe that he was left behind or maybe just wandered off and the mom didn't realize he was gone.
00:14 He was probably one of the smaller ones.
00:16 Maybe the reason why he was left behind or couldn't keep up.
00:20 There's a lot of predators around and I don't believe he would have made it being out there on his own.
00:25 My husband looked at me and he said, "You can take care of him."
00:28 He was so tiny, no bigger than my fingers.
00:31 He thought I was his mom.
00:32 He followed me everywhere.
00:33 I stopped, he stopped.
00:34 I ran, he ran.
00:36 I had no clue how to take care of ducks.
00:38 I did a lot of looking up, a lot of reading.
00:40 I actually managed.
00:41 I surprised myself.
00:43 I did everything I can for him.
00:45 He free-roamed the house.
00:46 He walked around like he owned the place.
00:50 The cat would just look at him like, "What is that?
00:52 Why are you in my house?
00:53 Let me go hide."
00:54 I taught him to be able to survive outdoors.
00:57 I let him get used to fending for his own food out there and teach him the outdoor life.
01:02 I was actually very nervous about Mick being able to fly because I read that domesticated ducks can't fly.
01:08 But no, Mick started flying.
01:09 He was a little wobbly, but he got better in time.
01:16 Every day we went out, he would always come to the door with me and we'd come inside for the night.
01:23 At four months old, he didn't come to the door with me and I realized, "Oh my God, I'm going to cry."
01:30 I realized he wanted to stay outside.
01:37 He wanted to be with the other ducks.
01:39 My big boy, look at him all grown.
01:42 Needless to say, sleepless nights.
01:44 All night long, I went out there.
01:45 I checked on him.
01:46 I put a flashlight in his face.
01:48 He sees a female.
01:49 It was a choice that he made and as much as it broke my heart, I wasn't going to stop him from being a normal duck.
01:56 He did come in still after that, so that made me happy.
01:59 Hi baby.
02:07 My boy.
02:09 Hi.
02:11 There he is.
02:14 Hi.
02:18 Hi.
02:19 Hi.
02:20 He would be sitting by the sliding glass door waiting for me.
02:23 He's so funny.
02:24 He nods.
02:25 As soon as he'd see that front door open, he'd just be so excited.
02:28 "Oh my goodness, my mommy left all day and went to work."
02:32 There's times he would just do his own duck thing and I would go out there and he would see me and he'd come running so fast and I was like, "Oh mommy, you're home. I haven't seen you all day."
02:41 Hi.
02:42 Hi.
02:43 Hi.
02:44 Hi.
02:45 Hi baby.
02:47 He gave his loud huffs.
02:49 Good morning.
02:52 Hi baby.
02:55 He was able to hang out with the other ducks, but if he saw mommy, he had to come over and say hi really, really fast.
03:01 Then he had to come back to his ducks.
03:03 What are you doing?
03:06 He knew his name the second I called him.
03:11 He definitely came over to me.
03:13 Nick.
03:15 Hi baby.
03:17 Look at my boy in the rain.
03:20 He would look at my husband like a stranger alert.
03:29 His head would go up high and his little mohawk would go up.
03:33 Seriously thinks he can sit on my shoulders still.
03:37 I was able to give everything that he wanted, everything he needed, the attention, the love, just everything.
03:43 (laughing)
03:48 Are you hungry?
03:50 You hungry?
03:51 The only thing I couldn't give him was the female duck companionship.
03:54 Look at my boy running to his mama on Mother's Day.
03:58 He's so excited.
04:00 Look at him running.
04:03 Hi baby.
04:05 Hi.
04:08 November 14, 2023, about 4.30 in the morning, I fed him and that was the last time I seen him.
04:17 For a male duck, it is very common for them to take off and explore.
04:22 I tell myself, if he didn't feel confident enough to leave, and if I didn't teach him everything he needed to know, he would have never left.
04:30 He would never have felt comfortable enough to leave.
04:32 And I feel great about that.
04:34 I just worry that knowing breaks my heart.
04:40 For more information, visit www.FEMA.gov