On Monday, the O’Briens on Fiddlers Point Drive had hopes of becoming new grandparents.
Well, sort of grandparents. See, they already have the human variety, on whom they dote during every visit. But, for the second time in four years, (see Spoonbill Courier report in May of 2021) Tom and Carmen O’Brien were waiting for news the eggs had hatched.
On Monday afternoon, Carmen spotted a mother duck sitting on a brood of eggs beneath the bushes by her front door. She was thrilled, anxious to see the little ones waddle across her front yard.
Not to be. Going back outside some time later, to her shock and chagrin, Carmen O’Brien found only broken eggs shells and no mama.
She alerted the Spoonbill Courier to the tragedy, and the publication sent its crack photographer/reporter to the scene, who indeed discovered a sad field of empty, broken egg shells. But he also found the Mama Duck was sitting on a big, healthy looking set of fresh eggs. He wondered if his neighbor missed seeing the mother, or if Mama Duck waddled away for a few minutes and returned. Because there she was, and so were some eggs. He broke the news to the couple by text that mama duck was indeed there, guarding her future offspring.
So, all that ends well, right? Not quite.
Twenty minutes after receiving the text and photos, a somewhat exasperated Tom O’Brien telephoned to insist the mother duck is GONE, questioning when did I take my pictures and is your time stamp wrong perhaps?
“The duck is gone – really gone! – and the eggs are destroyed”, he repeated.
“Can’t be”, came my bewildered response. “I was just there…Mama duck was fine, a bit stressed by my presence and hissing at me but I talked to her and calmed her down. When I left, she was fine and so were the new eggs, just a few minutes ago!”
A hasty return to the scene proved how quickly things can happen, even in nature. Mama duck had indeed flown the coop, as it were, and the field of broken egg shells in the shadow of the bushes had actually increased in number.
So, what happened?
Skunks, coyotes, foxes, snakes, birds of prey and even turtles will enjoy duck eggs if given the chance. But unlikely that, for the second time in a few hours, and with only a 20 minute window, a mother would up and leave her brood unprotected, AND there would be a passing skunk or such animal lucky enough to discover the well-hidden nest near a homeowner’s front door and sit down for dinner. At least, that is the reasoned thinking of this author, who believes the culprit is actually the mother, a theory supported by some admittedly light research:
Google: “While it’s uncommon, ducks can and sometimes do destroy their own eggs, particularly when they have a calcium deficiency or when eggs are broken accidentally. They may eat the broken eggshells or even the entire egg to supplement their calcium intake, which is needed to produce strong eggshells.”
Let us stipulate before the jokesters do, yes, the price of eggs IS high and make some do irrational things. However, with their being no evidence or trace of an immediate marauder, this author is letting the Mama-cide theory stand until smarter minds weigh-in in the comments section below.
Thanks!
