Life Can Be Fleeting

Nature doesn’t always give us the endings we want

Mother Duck and Ducklings, photo by author

A New Family at the Pond

A few days ago, I was walking in my favorite park and was thrilled to see this mother duck and her twelve ducklings.

They were so cute!

I took a ridiculous number of photos of the mother duck with her twelve ducklings paddling madly to keep pace with her. Other people stopped to smile and point out the little duck family to their children.

A man walking his dog said that the ducklings had likely hatched that morning or the day before. He walks there every day, and this was the first time he had seen them.

The mother duck and the ducklings seemed unimpressed by the oohs and aaahs coming from their audience. She had more important things to do. She was busy being mama and leading the ducklings where she wanted to go.

Even now, the memory still makes me smile.

Where Did the Ducklings Go?

The next day, I returned to the park excited to see them again.

But they were gone.

The pond is a nice size, but not big enough to hide twelve ducklings. It had stormed the night before, so I hoped she had taken her brood into the safety of the nearby trees.

Then, I overheard the same man with the dog tell another man that he thought the ducklings were gone.

Nearby, a female duck sat alone in the grass.

Maybe it was the mother.

The Reality of Nature

Curious and a bit sad, I started researching what could have happened.

I learned that predators for ducklings can come from the water, land, or sky.

Snapping turtles have been reported in the pond. Large fish such as channel catfish and bass, stocked in the pond, can prey on ducklings.

The pond and wooded area around it support foxes, raccoons, and coyotes, which prey on ducklings.

Other birds are also a danger to ducklings.

Great Blue Herons nest nearby and stalk the pond. Hawks circle overhead. Even crows may prey on young birds.

Snakes are another possibility. The pond and surrounding woods offer excellent habitat for them, as well.

The truth is that the ducklings hatched into a dangerous world.

Different Viewpoint

It is easy to forget that although this park is located in an urban area, it is still a real ecosystem supporting a wide variety of wildlife.

Animals need to eat, and survival is the goal. Nature is rarely fair.

When I taught high school biology, I used to remind my students that when they root for the gazelle, they are rooting against the lion.

Nature doesn’t assign good guys and bad guys.

The ducklings are adorable. Predators are beautiful, too.

Both are trying to survive.

This experience reminded me that although this park is a peaceful place for people to enjoy, it is also part of a constant life-or-death cycle for the wildlife living there.

Life is precious, even if it only lasts one day.

Cameron Brown Park, photo by author