BD
2000 - 2013
BD passed away suddenly on Saturday, probably taking him as much as me by surprise. In the morning he was out in the garden, taking a bath, having treats, then in the afternoon, was found lying on the grass by the barn.
Just last week I took this photo of him, sitting in a pile of leaves in the garden. He was old, a bit arthritic, but loved slow explorations of the garden with Lucky, his Pekin friend. He was the magnet in the farm yard for everyone who arrived, curious about who and what he was.
BD (short for Big Duck) was the leader of what was originally a small flock of nine Muscovy ducks that came to the farm in 2000. He was bigger, stronger, pushier, but never mean. Muscovies are large ducks, more the size of geese and quackless. They hiss instead of quack and I will miss his greeting every night when I come home, crest up, tail wagging, hissing, more like a dog than a duck. Lucky, his constant companion, will have to befriend the chickens more now and I am sure will miss BD.
Perhaps its time for an updated portrait of him. This was a small oil sketch done a few years ago. I love that Elvis "hairdo" that he had.
11 comments:
Sorry for the loss of your little friend, Jeanette. Sounds like he lived quite a good life right up to the day he left.
I always enjoy reading your blog posts, but, the ones about your animals always makes my heart smile. Which makes me ask, how is Tri-pod doing?
I'm so sorry about BD, Jeanette!
Hi Jeanette,
Allow me to add my condolences to the growing list. It's always a sad day when we lose a pet and a friend and it sounds like BD was both to you.
Stay well in the coming week.
Sincerely,
Gary.
It's always sad to lose a pet. Love his 1950s quiff - makes me think of all those old Grandads who still have the hairdo from when they wore winklepickers!
Thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts.
I know many think "What's the fuss? It was just a duck." And yes, BD was just a duck, but like any animal that you have in close quarters 365 days a year, you become attached to. You know their characteristics of behaviour, what pleases them, what annoys them, when they're well and when they're sick.
Many people treat birds,especially waterfowl or chickens as if they're disposable, housing them in inadequate quarters, feeding them scraps solely, so they are are more risk for disease due to poor nutrition,leave them open to predators or, IMO, worse still, leave them to exist without any human contact.
So thank you for indulging my memories of dear BD. Hold your pets and people close. They won't be there for ever.
And Nancy, I nearly forgot, Tripod is well. Aging, catching less mice. In fact one ran across his path in the barn and he looked at the mouse, looked and me and then sat down!
His tastes have moved from tuna (which he still eats a lot of)to the most expensive grade cat food and dry kibble is his staple as he takes a mouthful of kibble, then moves over a step and takes a mouthful of tuna. Yes, he suffers a lot...;)
Merci et bienvenue sur mon blog. J'ai hâte de voir votre travail et en partageant nos chemins artistiques.
I am so very sorry for the loss of BD! what a lovely post, thank you for letting us see what his life was like. he is happy now and free of any limits! and i'm sure still watching over the girls!
So sorry about BD's death. He seemed quite a character. The old portrait is lovely as are the photos.
Suz, thank you. He was a unique character and is missed. Poor Lucky, his Pekin buddy is quite lost without him. Its sad to see.
Sue, thanks for the kind words. For a duck he did have personality. I'll do another portrait of him soon I think.
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