what duck

Some of you have asked "what duck?" mentioned in the 'fluffy babies' post from yesterday.


The Duck was a female Muskovie that laid eggs outside of my apartment door in Ft Lauderdale in February 2005. I think initially there were 5 or 6. She sat on them and sat on them and sat on them, but they didn't hatch. By the end of March, there was no doubt that they were dead. They had changed colors, and we were a bit afraid that they would begin to smell. Each time we walked past her nest, we would say "they're dead!" But she didn't give up.



In June, she was still sitting, only by then there were only 3 left. By September, there were 2. Sometimes, she got up to go eat. And some of those times, a male Muskovie duck would come and stand guard, hissing at anyone who would walk by. Hello? They're dead!


And then, on October 24, came Hurricane Wilma. Sometime during the storm, she laid 8 more eggs - now she was back up to 10, with 2 left over from February. February! She had been sitting on them for 8 months.


When I moved away at the end of January, she was still there sitting on those eggs!


Mrs. Duck - THEY'RE DEAD!!!!!!