Cold Cruel World of the Duck

The Bird Zoo Home Ducks, Geese, Swans Page
Few of us know cold, or how better to deal with it than a duck hunter. Few of us have leaned into a biting nor easter in the short daylight months. My hunting is by lens and microphone, but I must concede that my stints to exposed bay or coastal marsh in the dead of winter, in the bone chilling dank of the predawn where the wind cuts across the marshes, where wings whistle bye before the sun, have been few, and seldom beyond a few hours. Few of us could know the drive of a labrador retriever lunging full force out of the boat into the icy waters to bring back, the fallen.

And how ill-suited we are (hearty dog included) indeed. Gortex, rubber, thinsulate, acrylic fiber, thermoses, body warmers, the privilege of unlimited fuel in the way of hot breakfast, and the ability to leave for shelter--these are advantages, these allow us to cope, with the world of the duck. These advantages, applications of the most complex of vertebrate mind and invention, allow us to visit, to view for moments, the world of a wild creature. This is the life of a vertebrate weighing but a few ounces of meat, wrapped in a few feathers, and placed against the rocky coast of the north Atlantic, against the frigid seas and cresting surf, and with the physical strength and engineering to dive beneath and pursue fish in their world. Few of us will ever feel the freedom of wind blasting against our eyes, as we hurtle at highway speeds through the cutting winds rifling across salt marsh, and bay.

Never mind that square stack of reeds and wooden decoys bobbing awkwardly. Listen to the wings whistling in the darkness, to the calls ”doppler-ing” bye, feel the chill and frozen nose hairs, the cracking lips. And realize how poor a duck you would make!

I for one see appeal in the duck beyond one whose goose is cooked. Be they sea ducks, diving ducks, dabbling ducks of local parks and ponds, or tree ducks, they all have had a lasting appeal to the bird enthusiast. Be it the strength of geese, or the majesty of swans, the antics of pond-side mallards, all are subjects worth watching, familiar, but wild and uniquely evolved creatures.