Dave the Duck William Year 8
We have had Dave the duck for quite a long time. He is the fourth duck we have had. He used to have a brother named Gerald. Oscar and I chose the names. Sadly, seven months after we got Gerald (it was February), he was killed by a fox. It was while we were at home because of the Beast from the East. It was snowing and his body was taken by the fox. The next morning there was bright red blood in the bleakness of the white snow. It was not a pretty sight. We keep the ducks in an enclosure around our pond so that dogs cannot get to them. If they wanted to, they could get out (which they do occasionally). However, they know that if they stay there, they will be fed, so most of the time they do. A few weeks after Gerald died, we found a fox inside the enclosure, dead. Dave was still alive. I often wonder how the fox died there as it did not look too old. I will never know, but I have my suspicions that Dave had some part in it! Previously, one of our ducks had been killed by a dog, and the other was taken by a fox.
Dave is a ‘Muscovy’ duck. He is not the prettiest duck you will ever see. He is a light shade of grey, although most ‘Muscovy’ ducks, including his dead brother Gerald, are a bright white. He has got a red ‘face’. He used to be able to fly. However, because he is now considerably heavier (because we fed him too much) he cannot take-off! Sometimes he flaps his wings if a pheasant comes too close to his food (with him everything is about food). This is always enough to scare the pheasants off!
We also have two cats, named Treacle and Toffee. They are quite friendly with him and we often find them sitting next to them. We have contemplated getting Dave a ‘friend’, but we decided against it because we had a feeling that Dave would not let it eat anything. Dave is the only duck we have had to have survived for more than a year; he has been alive for two years and seven months.
Every time Dave sees someone he immediately waddles at his top speed (which sadly is not very fast) to where he is fed. The rest of the time he will either be in the water of our pond, or trying to sit in the sun somewhere. To be honest I think that all he ever thinks about is ‘food’! He is probably the biggest duck you have ever seen or ever will see. Yes, I think we may have fed him too much…