Chester

     Yea, yea, Chester is a male name and this is a female duck, however, this duck doesn't waddle.  All she can do is kind of hop along when out of the water.  I will now give you a little history of Chester.

     Two years ago she showed up on the pond with 8 or 9 little ones.  She was a good mother, very protective.  One day we noticed that she wasn't acting right and then the obvious, she had been injured during the night.  Cat, fox or coyote had obviously gotten her but she and the babies got away.  The little ones at that time were about the size of two softballs.  She healed up but was never the same, that leg just hung there.  She and I got to know each other to where I could sit in the grass and feed her cracked corn and really get a good look at her leg without touching her and getting her upset.  A few weeks later one of the babies received the same injury.  We found it under a bush and it was injured more but, it appeared that it would survive like the mother.  This was not to be.  The weather got real hot and the duck seemed to get weaker.  Finally one day the baby was so weak that it got into the water, swam to the middle of the pond and rolled over onto its back and died.  

     There was a matriarch female that sounded an alarm and all the ducks got out of the pond and stood on the side.  All the babies were huddled together and the adults stood on the side just looking.  After about 1/2 hour the period of mourning was over and the pond went back to normal.  All the other babies made it to adulthood.  Chester left in the fall and then returned for a couple of days last summer.  Now, she's been here for about two weeks.  

Meet Chester..................