DUCK DUCK

They sure have a lot of ducks up here in Nantucket. They are everywhere. Throw some cheese doodles in the water and before you can say "Duck" they are there. There are places on the island where these critters gather by the hundreds. One prime location is on Fairgrounds Road where they get duck welfare in the form of daily feedings from some guy whose neighbors I am sure have a contract out on him. Another is where Washington and Union come together, on the waterfront side.

Back in Sarasota we have ducks every season that sit by our pool. Several years ago, a pair of ducks (not a paradox) landed in the pool and we heard this commotion. Apparently when ducks mate, they are rather vocal. Within a few weeks we noticed 10 little fuzzy ducklings swimming in the pool...peeping. Momma duck ran around the perimeter of the pool...quacking. The pool level was normal but the edge of the pool was still too high for the ducklings to jump out. Clearly they would be in trouble if left in this condition as they become waterlogged and fatigued. What to do? I built an inclined ramp out of wood and a carpet for them to walk up and escape.

Ducks are apparently territorial and they return to their place of birth, our pool, their pond. Since they eat a lot of dirt along with their food, the bottom of the pool got very dirty very quickly. The pool man would come on Tuesday and the pool would be dirty by Wednesday. I called animal control for help thinking that government would be there for us. Not happening They weren't interested. So I called Animal Rescue...ditto. The Humane Society...they hung up. Finally in desperation I called the ASPCA, lover of all animals, for advice. They recommended that I call a man who owns a Vietnamese Restaurant and a Mullet net and he would come over and solve my problem. Before I could call, the ducks were grown and flew away.

Every spring an adult pair sits by the poolside apparently reliving fond memories of when their family was born and bred at this pond. They must be too old to have more ducklings because after a couple of seasons the duckling problem has disappeared. Or maybe they just found a nicer "Infinity" pond in a swankier neighborhood or they summer in Nantucket.