Mormon Mentality - Thoughts and Asides by Peculiar People » The Mother Duck

By Devyn S.

May. 2nd, 2012 at 5:23 pm

Recently we went to a Castle in Wales (another story) and in the moat was a family of ducks – a mother and 11 babies that were clearly newly hatched. We watched while they swam over to this grate, where the water drained into a culvert that ran under the road into who knows where. We were horrified as one by one the ducklings got sucked down the grate. The mother did not seem particularly bothered by it and started to swim away. Only four babies followed her. I ran down to peek in the culvert and could see several of the babies were alive and trying to keep from being washed away. Unfortunately, they were 6-8 feet down and I could not reach them, nor could we move the grate as it was welded on. So we had to walk away knowing those baby ducks would die. What was even more disturbing was the mother duck. She swam over to the side and started eating with the four babies. It has bothered me ever since. I think what is even more disturbing is that I have read stories of humans who are not much different. However, on a happy note, most human parents do not act like this so enjoy those Mother’s on Mother’s Day and always remember to help out those baby ducklings you encounter in life.

1. Téa

Wed, May 2, 2012 @ 7:51pm

My friend gave me a card that reads, “My therapist says you aren’t the cause of all my troubles. How’s that for a Happy Mother’s Day??!”

2. annegb

Thu, May 3, 2012 @ 1:57pm

How awful, Devyn. Although she couldn’t have save them, right? Had she not swam away, all the babies might have died. But it’s still very sad.

Do they celebrate Mother’s Day in England? Are you starting to talk with an accent?

3. MCQ

Thu, May 3, 2012 @ 6:37pm

I saw the same thing happen once, but all the babies were sucked down and the mother duck just hung around the gate squawking, which is how we discovered the babies below the grate. This happened at a condominium complex where we were living at the time, so a neighbor and I got some tools and removed the grate and were able to reach the babies and get them back to the mother. It felt very good to rescue the baby ducks but it was an enormous, filthy, time consuming pain and we got no thanks from the mother, who just took off with her babies once she had them back.

4. NewlyHousewife

Thu, May 3, 2012 @ 11:10pm

You’d think with all the animals that get sucked into the storm drains construction workers would weld the bars closer together.

5. Peter LLC

Fri, May 4, 2012 @ 6:48am

If you weld the bars too close together then the drains get plugged by flotsam and cease to function. Just like in real life–nanny states become dysfunctional in their zeal to protect too many ducklings from poor decisions.

6. annegb

Fri, May 4, 2012 @ 10:10am

Could they put up a kind of barrier?

7. Devyn S

Fri, May 4, 2012 @ 4:34pm

1- Tea: guess you can look at thr bright side of that card

2. Mothers Day in the UK was a couple of months ago so we get to celebrate it twice!

3. MCQ- bet the women and children thought you were a hero though

5. Peter – fair question on how far do we go to protect ducklings from poor decisions. My wife and I are still figuring that out with our kids

8. Bookslinger

Sat, May 5, 2012 @ 11:42pm

It’s the nature of ducks to not be protective of their young. People who raise ducks and geese have told me that ducks are dumb/bad parents, and geese are much better at parenthood in terms of protecting their young.

One might say that man put the grate and culvert there, and thereby interfered. But there would likely have been another type of spill-way, rushing creek, or small waterfall in the same area that would have separated the ducklings into two or more groups that could not have rejoined together, and the mother duck would have had to choose which group to stay with.

Even in man-modified environments, nature and natural selection are at play. The mother duck (and maybe the daddy-duck too) made decisions (where to build the nest and lay her eggs, where to swim that day, etc) such that fewer specimens of her/their genes survived. And in a sense, that is the way it should be, no?

That being said, I once observed a family of geese stuck on the traffic island between two lanes of traffic at an intersection controlled by stop lights. The main drag had 2 lanes of traffic in each direction, plus left-turn lanes. The cross street had one lane of traffic in each direction plus left-turn lanes.

After traversing the intersection, and having seen the goose family (mom, dad, and several furry chicks) “stuck” after crossing just one half of the main street, and then attempting to cross “kitty corner” to a grassy field, and realizing they probably would not make it in rush hour traffic, I pulled over and parked my car.

I took out a reflective vest (that I wear when changing flat tires), and went back to the intersection, played traffic-cop, waved it with one hand, motioned to stop traffic with the other, and stopped all traffic in all four directions.

I held the reflective material high in the air, and with the other hand I shooed the goose family in the direction they had apparently wanted to go (and which seemed logical based on the terrain there).

The mom and babies took off, and the daddy goose brought up the rear, turning his head and hissing at me the whole way.

The drivers of the cars and trucks seemed to pick up quickly what I was doing, and no one got road rage.

When the goose family was in the clear, I was on the same corner where my car was anyway. As I walked to my car, several drivers honked and gave the thumbs-up signal. One passenger in a car shouted something like “awesome” as they drove by.

Normally, I hate geese. They’re noisy, mean, they’ll bite if you happen to get too close, they block traffic, they often won’t get out of your way when you’re driving, and they poop all over the place.

9. annegb

Sun, May 6, 2012 @ 11:07am

I’m not much for geese, either. And, even though ducks are lacksadaisical mothers, the duck population doesn’t seem to be threatened. There are plenty in my neighborhood.