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News for and about Grantwood Village, Missouri USA
Volume II, No.25 - Week of June 21 - 28, 2010 | |
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If It Walks Like A Duck, and
Quacks Like A Duck ....
It might just be ... a very special duck In late May, 2009, a female Mallard felt the call of eminent motherhood but was unable to make it to the secluded safety most likely to protect her and her, about to be delivered, eggs. She settled, instead, for a pile of mulch under a huge, old tree located in the tiny parkway between Hibbard Street and Granbury Circle. Her multicolored feathers blended well with the mulch beneath the tree, and she had the illusionary protection of a hosta plant barely five inches taller than she was when sitting down. It would have to do. |
| One evening, Christine Herman and her children were walking and riding their bikes in the area. Christine stumbled onto the well camouflaged mallard, that was still and appeared to be lifeless. As Christine and the children approached, the duck rose and ran a few feet from them. That was when the children noticed the greenish, brown eggs in the improvised nest The family moved back to give the duck her private space and then began to wonder what they could do to protect her.The “nest” was fairly exposed in its location just four feet from the street. Christine seized on the event as an opportunity to extend the school year just a little and began to assist her home schooled children, and neighboring children, in learning about duck culture. | |
|  | Christine seized on the event as an opportunity to extend the school year just a little and began to assist her home schooled children, and neighboring children, in learning about duck culture. ___________________________________________
Neighborhood children caring for a female mallard who layed her eggs in the Granbury Circle parkway include, left to right: Cole and Saylor Herman, Caroline Mund and Kai Herman. Caroline lives in Webster but, got involved through her cousin, Katie Lee, was unavailable for this photo but, was very much involved. ( staff photo)
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| Cole Herman, then 11, with help from Officer Tom Toretta, taught the other children about natural predators and learned to just let Nature take its course. They kept us posted and we kept readers updated on what we thought would be a growing Grantwood Village family. The “blessed event” should have occurred in late June; however, Nature did take its course and one day we received this message from Cole.
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U P D A T E : June 13, 2009
" Today on June 13 at around 4:45 pm Saylor, Katie,and I went to check on the duck, Pinky, and all her eggs were gone except for 1 egg but the one egg has a huge hole in it. "
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We tried to assure the children that all was well, but in our heart of hearts we assumed that Pinky and her eggs had met with a natural force and that was the end of that. Boy! Did we underestimate that duck!! Not only is she very smart but, we recently discovered that she can read!! | |
|  | How else could she have known to reclaim her celebrity status by showing up in the .info publisher’s garden?
People who know Linda Blackburn know that she is somewhat of a “pond builder” and that she has no less than six small bodies of water in her back garden along with hundreds of plants, trees, birds, chipmunks, squirrels, one small garter snake that recently crossed her path, and a turtle who has been coming to eat strawberries for the last eight years. So, on a 99 degree day, why not entertain a duck asking for food, shade, shelter and …. water.
Mrs. Blackburn strongly believes the duck to be none other than Pinky due to the fact that the duck is not easily frightened by her presence and she was able to compare photos to last year’s story.
Miss Pinky seems eager to have her picture taken, perhaps to prove to all of her loyal fans, that just like the Beatle Paul McCartney, the rumors of her death were greatly exaggerated. |
| Although Mrs. Blackburn hopes she does not develop an appetite for goldfish, Pinky is a welcome site. She appears almost every morning, wanders around the yard, eats sprouts growing beneath a bird feeder, and takes a nice cool dip in the pond de jour. So far, she has tried three of tsix She has tried the larger pond which is full of goldfish who are (supposed to be) protected by a large faux crane and a small alligator, but she best likes a small pond where there are no goldfish. Although last summer she was reported to be in the company of a gentleman duck, she appears to be on her own now, and seems to be very happy.
We’ll keep you posted. |  |
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The Tree City USA® program, sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters, provides direction, technical assistance, public attention, and national recognition for urban and community forestry programs in thousands of towns and cities that more than 135 million Americans call home.
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More Information
Call: 402-474-5655
Monday–Friday
8:00 AM to 5:00 PM CST
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