It was now late into the afternoon, and the Tuckers were on their way home from the golf course after being with Big Charlie all day long.
Getting home was no small feat, as it required a half-hour drive followed by a small ferry ride. Home for the Tuckers was a delightful island in Howe Sound off the coast of British Columbia.
Charlie and his family enjoyed living on the island while still being able to be close enough to the big city. After an enjoyable ferry ride during which Charlie saw his friend, Ben, the Tuckers continued their drive home.
“Mom, what is that on the side of the road?” Charlie asked, pointing to a bedraggled grey and white clump.
“Why, it looks like a seagull, but is it a seagull?” Mrs. Tucker wondered aloud.
“Nope, mom, that’s not a seagull and it isn’t moving off the side of the road either,” little Charlie noted with concern, as a frown wrinkled his usually cheerful face. “What if it gets hit by a car?” he continued.
“I’ll pull up here, and we can have a better look,” Mr. Tucker replied, trying to comfort little Charlie.
“You know, that isn’t a seagull at all–why that’s a Muscovy duck, of all things! I wonder what the poor thing is doing out on the road?” Mrs. Tucker exclaimed.
“Gee, mom, we can’t let the duck stay by the road, and it is in the shade. It looks hungry, too. Can we catch it and give it a home?” Little Charlie asked.
“Well, it can’t stay on the side of the road forever, and it does look tired and probably is hungry. Why don’t we try to catch it, and then put it in a safe bird pen for the night ‘til we find its owners,” Mrs. Tucker replied.
And so the chase began! While being careful of the other ferry traffic that passed by them, the Tuckers were able to catch the bird without too much effort. Mrs. Tucker sacrificed her old blanket to wrap the bird up, and little Charlie gave the bird some of his mom’s homemade tea biscuits.
“Boy, this bird is really hungry, mom! Look at it eat my tea biscuit,” he said with excitement.
He continued, “It likes your tea biscuits as much as I do!”
“Just be careful of your fingers, Charlie. We don’t want the duck to think you are food as well,” Mr. Tucker cautioned.
Without going into too much detail, along the road the next day, Charlie and his mom found another Muscovy duck, yet still could not locate the owners. After a couple more days, the owners were found. Following a discussion on the future of the birds, Mrs. Tucker and little Charlie were encouraged to take the Muscovy ducks and another two besides, one female and one male.
The Muscovy ducks did not get any more tea biscuits, but they did find themselves a new home with lots of fresh water, duck pellets and corn, and even a special roosting stand!
For more information on Muscovy Ducks, check out Muscovy Duck Central.
Photo Compliments of 8bells.
© 2011 Crystal Buchan