Last updated at 09:46, Wednesday, 23 December 2009

A FIVE-day search for their lost duck nearly drove a Hensingham couple ‘quackers’. Neil Bruce and Maria Chadwick thought their beloved pet was gone forever after being spooked in the garden and flying off.

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Thankfully, however, he has been found safe and well and the couple are delighted to be reunited with Duck Duck, who lives in their Main Street home along with their other duck, Spot Luck.

“We put up posters and looked all over the place for him,” said Maria. “I thought he would be struggling for food because he had always had it given to him.”

Duck Duck has been part of the family since he was rescued from a motorway hard shoulder. He was suffering from rickets and the couple nursed him back to good health, with advice from Knoxwood wildlife centre.

Maria often helps injured animals and birds and the aim is always to return them to the wild but Duck Duck became house-trained. The community got involved in the search and five days later the couple received a phone call to say he had been spotted near a Mirehouse nursery. He was taken to a nearby allotment and collected.

“It was fantastic – I could not believe we would get him back,” said Maria. And he was pleased to see them – jumping straight onto Maria’s shoulder.

Duck Duck is very attached to the couple as they have brought him up. They got another duck to keep him company and the two sleep in a basket at the foot of the stairs. Their somewhat unusual house-trained pets enjoy watching television (nature programmes in particular!) and dancing to music. Their staple food consists of mashed up hard-boiled eggs and Digestive biscuits, sprinkled with mealworms.
The pair have a swim when it’s bath time and also enjoy a shower. Water off a duck’s back, you might say...

First published at 09:40, Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk