Life’s innings needn’t be out for a duck

Not many humans would get into flap at the sight — and plight — of a lone(some) duck. So, a certain special education teacher in the eastern state of Maine in the US must be commended for putting out a singles ad for one desolate duck that had lost its mate to a hungry bobcat.

Of course, his initiative is a bit of a shot in the duck as prospective mates cannot read the notice that has been put up at a local store, but, hopefully, a helpful human will suggest a fowl that fits the bill. Any assertion that ducks are monogamous like swans is a canard.

While swans rarely find love again and live out the rest of their lives in poignant, poetry-inspiring isolation, ducks form more practical seasonal bonds. Hence, their chance of finding a companion after bereavement are quite high, provided there are prospective dabblers and divers around. That is presumably why the teacher was moved to write out an ad.


Sadly, there are also cases like that of Trevor Mallard (the duck, not the Kiwi politician he was named after) who passed away as a singleton on the island of Niue early this year because he was literally one of a kind on that Pacific atoll, inadvertently landing there during a storm. It is heartening, however, that the ad for the lonely duck seeks serious replies only. The whole issue does, unfortunately, lend itself to wise quacks.