Pender Island woman helps lonely duck find a friend
Like the Three Stooges worked for laughs on screen, and the Three Musketeers fought for justice in France, these three ducks were born to eat slugs on a farm.
“One was Lily, one was Poppy,” Jason Croutch says, showing me video of the black birds growing from fuzzy babies to feathered farmhands. “The other was Delphine Duck.”
The botanical names were bestowed on the trio by Jason’s customers at the Fraser Valley Rose Farm.
“It’s just a lot of fun to have them here,” Jason smiles.
When the threesome wasn’t devouring pests, or greeting guests, the ducks were bonding with Jason’s family.
Until the day his wife heard a coyote in the yard.
“It was traumatic,” Jason says. “Lisa had to run out and chase the coyote off.”
She made it in time to save one of the ducks.
Because they all looked the same, they were unsure if it was Lily, Poppy, or Delphine. But the duck that remained was definitely now "Lonely."
“She really couldn’t go about her day unless she was with people,” Jason says.
Lonely followed Lisa everywhere. Jason captured video of the black duck walking beside his wife’s yellow boots all over the farm.
But whenever she’d have to go where the duck couldn’t, Lonely would waddle hundreds of metres away to visit their neighbour, before the neighbour would inevitably walk the duck back home.
“There’d be a knock,” Jason says showing me video of Lonely waiting on their front stoop. “And here I find a duck [at] our front door.”
Despite their best intentions, which they posted about on their Fraser Valley Rose Farm YouTube channel, Jason and Lisa realized they just couldn’t be the sort of BFFs the bird needed. So they reached out to their niece, Stefanny Lowey.
“My heart just broke when I heard what happened to her,” Stefanny says.
Stefanny is a self-described “bird lover” who raises animals and grows food on Pender Island as part of her and her partner’s Lovin off the Land project.
She agreed to adopt the duck, which required a ferry ride to her property in a dog carrier.
“Everyone was really confused when they heard quacking coming from the crate and not a dog bark,” Stefanny laughs.
When the duck arrived at her new home, she was introduced to a flock of potential new friends. But Lonely stayed close to Stefanny, earning the new name Shadow.
“It’s been really amazing,” Stefanny says. “But a different experience than our other birds.”
The other birds never waddled down the driveway, whenever Stefanny was working inside.
But then again the other birds never experienced loss like Lonely did, which is perhaps why they also found it so easy to welcome Shadow into their family.
“[Shadow] has now made really good friends with our white duck,” Stefanny smiles, showing me video of the inseparable pair. “They like to hang out together.”
After three became one, the lonely duck is finding a new beginning as party of a dynamic duo.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Vicious attack on a dog ends with charges for northern Ont. suspect
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
On federal budget, Macklem says 'fiscal track has not changed significantly'
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canada's fiscal position has 'not changed significantly' following the release of the federal government's budget.