So we lost Maddie and Mabel a couple of weeks ago. Mabel died first in her sleep – since her day was ordinary and she did all her favorite things, I’m assuming it was just old age.
Maddie followed a week later, from what I am sure was a broken heart. They were tightly bonded and you could watch Maddie just slowly slip away. Again, she was the same age as Mabel, I’m assuming, so it wasn’t surprising.
They were slowing down considerably over the summer, nesting more than running around the yard. But they still chased bugs every morning, enjoyed their pools, and got feisty when the duckteens got out of line.
I did bring Penelope (rest in peace sweet thing) and Nick and Nora into the flock hoping that when and if one of the older ducks died, the remaining duck would have company. It was a long shot…
I knew Maddie and Mabel were slowing down, we didn’t really know how old they were when we rescued them, and healthy ducks only live from 5-8 years. Mabel had the most difficult time in the wild and probably only had a day or two left in her when we brought her home. It took a while for both to recuperate and Mabel’s health always seemed vulnerable. But they had a great life here and enjoyed being the official yard ducks. Gave us a lot of eggs and ate their weight in bugs, for sure.
They brought great joy to the yard and it was soooo nice to have ducks again after years without. I am grateful Nick and Nora are around to take up the mantle of official yard ducks. They seem up to the task.
Annie DeMoranville 