Hello everyone,
Two months ago, the beginning of may, I was at college and found a baby mallard duckling all alone peeping and shaking, I had seen another duck attack (grown) it. So being the animal lover I am, I took the duckling (she had to be a few days old), and brought her to a farm store and bought the supplies I needed. I took the duckling home to my apartment at school, then took her back to my permanent residence at my parents house, which is 3 hours away, and I raised her. My neighbors had even bought a duckling so mine wouldnt be lonley. I made a pen for her, a duck house, a swimming hole, you name it, this duck has it. Every night I would take her in and she would sleep in a doggy crate, she knew when it was bed time and when i brought the crate to her pen, she would jump right in.
Everyday I would let her and her ducky friend (a pekin) out of the pen and run around the yard to dig for worms. Two weeks ago she dissappeared and I found her down the hill at a neighbors house, she was peeping so I heard her, and went and got her. Well, I had her out two days ago in the yard all day, and she stayed between my and my neighbors yard. I went over to heard the ducks back in the pen, which they were both next to my neighbors pool, I turned my head for literally one minute, not even, and she was gone, and the pekin and running looking for her (she always does when my duck gets out of her sight) I looked EVERYWHERE for my Waddles, I mean everywhere. It was 9pm and getting dark already, I continued to look for her till 2am with a flashlight, and woke up every hour on the hour to go check the yard. and searched all day yesterday.
My neighbbors have a small creek that runs down her property, and I looked up and down the creek, I even went so far as to following the creek to the river, (which is about more than half a mile) and walked up and down the river, and no sign of her, not even a feather, or a peep.
I am truely heartbroken without this duck, I mean I raised her since she was a little baby and would follow me around (when she was small), she had everything she needed at my house and I made sure I took care of her well, I even bought her minnows and put them in her kiddy pool every now and then for her to eat.
I guess what I'm trying to ask is if anyone thinks she will come back. Shes been gone 36 hours now. She is a smart little duck. She can fly, she has all her feathers, but i've only seen her fly about 6 feet high, Ive never seen her go higher, and she doesnt have the landing part down too well. She knows how to dig for worms, very well i might say, and she is an excellent swimmer, and even dives under the water ( i read mallards are more of a dabbing duck), but every time i changed her water in her pool she'd submurge herself completely and swim around the radius of the pool. Do you think she will be safe? She knows how to watch for predators pretty well, I have a hyper puppy and she knows to stay from him, she also looks up in the sky and stays still when she see's a crow flying by. Like I said, she is two months old, she can do everything but quack. I wouldve thought she'd come back by now for her friend.
Will she come back?? Or should I not hold my breath? Like I said, I love this duck, and i'll do anything to have her back.
Two months ago, the beginning of may, I was at college and found a baby mallard duckling all alone peeping and shaking, I had seen another duck attack (grown) it. So being the animal lover I am, I took the duckling (she had to be a few days old), and brought her to a farm store and bought the supplies I needed. I took the duckling home to my apartment at school, then took her back to my permanent residence at my parents house, which is 3 hours away, and I raised her. My neighbors had even bought a duckling so mine wouldnt be lonley. I made a pen for her, a duck house, a swimming hole, you name it, this duck has it. Every night I would take her in and she would sleep in a doggy crate, she knew when it was bed time and when i brought the crate to her pen, she would jump right in.
Everyday I would let her and her ducky friend (a pekin) out of the pen and run around the yard to dig for worms. Two weeks ago she dissappeared and I found her down the hill at a neighbors house, she was peeping so I heard her, and went and got her. Well, I had her out two days ago in the yard all day, and she stayed between my and my neighbors yard. I went over to heard the ducks back in the pen, which they were both next to my neighbors pool, I turned my head for literally one minute, not even, and she was gone, and the pekin and running looking for her (she always does when my duck gets out of her sight) I looked EVERYWHERE for my Waddles, I mean everywhere. It was 9pm and getting dark already, I continued to look for her till 2am with a flashlight, and woke up every hour on the hour to go check the yard. and searched all day yesterday.
I am truely heartbroken without this duck, I mean I raised her since she was a little baby and would follow me around (when she was small), she had everything she needed at my house and I made sure I took care of her well, I even bought her minnows and put them in her kiddy pool every now and then for her to eat.
I guess what I'm trying to ask is if anyone thinks she will come back. Shes been gone 36 hours now. She is a smart little duck. She can fly, she has all her feathers, but i've only seen her fly about 6 feet high, Ive never seen her go higher, and she doesnt have the landing part down too well. She knows how to dig for worms, very well i might say, and she is an excellent swimmer, and even dives under the water ( i read mallards are more of a dabbing duck), but every time i changed her water in her pool she'd submurge herself completely and swim around the radius of the pool. Do you think she will be safe? She knows how to watch for predators pretty well, I have a hyper puppy and she knows to stay from him, she also looks up in the sky and stays still when she see's a crow flying by. Like I said, she is two months old, she can do everything but quack. I wouldve thought she'd come back by now for her friend.
Will she come back?? Or should I not hold my breath? Like I said, I love this duck, and i'll do anything to have her back.
