McMullen Hall is the administrative building on the campus of
Montana State University Billings. It is
where all the major and important decisions about the university are made, thus
there are a lot of people in and out of the building. Lots of “human” traffic as it is a busy
place. With the arrival of spring the
campus usually picks up some new inhabitants that are not usually here during
the regular school year—wood ducks. The
wood ducks replace the wild turkeys that wander around the campus during the
school year. This year was no different,
with the warmer weather the turkeys went into hiding and the ducks replaced
them.
I am not sure where the turkeys wander off to, but for a while the
ducks have the run of the campus. They
like the irrigation canal that runs through the campus, plus they like the
water sprinklers. Either way, I like the
wild life that inhabits the campus and I especially like the ducks . . .
especially when they have hatched their ducklings. They are a blast to watch.
Now I do not know the pregnancy cycle of the wood duck and nor do
I really want to learn. What I do know
is that they hatch their young in’s from eggs—they lay on top of the eggs until
the little boogers are ready to come out and meet the world. I do not know whether or not the female duck
carries the egg around until it is ready to drop—sort of like a woman carries a
baby and it is ready to come. If that is
the case, then I imagine that whenever that egg is ready to drop that the
mother duck drops it wherever it might be.
For example, like in a flower bed next to the busiest building on
campus. Sort of like the one I have
pictured below.
There is quite a debate on campus
about the mental health of the duck pictured above. It seems that about two weeks ago it decided
that the flower bed in front of McMullen Hall was the place to hatch its
brood. So imagine it was just walking
around, felt those “birth” pangs coming on, and looked around for a convenient
place to deposit her eggs. From what I
understand there are approximately four eggs that she is incubating among the
flowers. She is pretty oblivious to the
world around her as she nestles there among the flowers. She doesn’t bother anyone, and no bothers
her. I imagine that if anyone did bother
her or her nest they deserve everything that they get.
Typically ducks do not lay their
eggs right out there in public for the whole world to see. Why this particular duck chose to do this . .
. well, that is the debate. Some folks
believe the duck is losing it—going quackers in a way. I don’t agree with that theory. I think this little duck did what it had to
do. I think that those little boogers
just showed up, demanded a place in the world, and she did what she had to do .
. . she plopped them out . . . right there in the flower garden where she
happened to be at the time. What else
could she do? When Mother Nature calls
we all do well to heed her call.
I admire that little duck as she
covers her nest. I admire that she did
the only thing that she could do and that was to complete the job that she was
given. Thus she sits there as the world
wanders by, gawking, pointing, and laughing at the absurdity (at least in their
minds) of this little duck’s situation.
The bottom line, though, is that the duck is doing what she needed to
do. I have yet to hear a complaint
escape her bill lamenting her situation.
I have watched as she tirelessly and patiently awaits the hatching of
her brood. And, I have anticipated the
day when those little quackers show up.
It won’t be long . . . in the meantime, she does what she has to do.
I guess deep down I admire her
because she is doing what most of us never do, and that is to deal with our
lives and the cards that we are dealt . . . that we just don’t always do what
we have to do. Instead of complaining
and lamenting . . . she patiently awaits
and does her job. I guess she has a lot
to teach us all.
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