Duck tale a quacker
A wild mother duck and her seven ducklings have become regular visitors to the Newell family home in Sunnyvale, much to the amusement of the neighbourhood and radio listeners across the city.
For the past couple of months, The Breeze Dunedin morning radio show co-host Damian Newell has been entertaining locals by regularly sharing photos and videos of the growing duck family online.
"We've been having a bit of fun with it by giving our listeners 'duck tales' updates," Mr Newell said.
The saga began two years ago, when Damian and Debra Newell's daughter Molly started feeding a pair of wild mallards, dubbed Karla and Valerio, alongside the family's flock of pet Indian Runner ducks.
After disappearing for a time, Karla returned about eight weeks ago, waddling up the drive with eight ducklings in tow.
Sadly, one duckling was lost early on, but the mother has been able to keep her seven remaining ducklings growing strong — with a little help from the Newells.
PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Describing the family's tall, flightless Indian Runner ducks as "agents of chaos", Mr Newell said Karla and her brood fitted in with them well, and were making the most of the supplementary food source and a safe back yard to spend time in.
"They hang out in our garden for most of the day, before we escort them back to the creek at night," he said.
A home-made "ducks crossing" sign helps with safety.
While Karla and her ducklings get on well with the Indian Runner ducks, they get bossed around a bit by the family's chooks.
However, Mr Newell said everyone seemed reasonably happy with the arrangements, apart from the family dog Bustop, who had found himself at the bottom of the pecking order.
"Poor old Bustop, they all pick on him."
brenda.harwood@thestar.co.nz
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