By Mike Isbell
University of Georgia
Baby animals and baby humans are a lot alike in one sense:
they’re both cute — well, except for baby buzzards (those things
are ugly).
Baby chicks and ducks, especially, are cute — for a while. But
they grow into large, mature animals fairly quickly and lose
their cuteness even quicker.
Hundreds of baby chicks and ducks and even baby rabbits are
bought this time of year and given to small children as Easter
presents. And I can tell you from personal experience what
happens when a child gets one of these Easter pets.
Lindsay’s duck
My oldest daughter, Lindsay, was about 2 years old when her Papa
Bill gave her a baby duck for Easter. Lindsay loved it. As a
matter of fact, she almost loved it to death.
“Lindsay! Don’t tote the duck by its neck!” we would tell her as
we pried the poor duck out of her tightly clasped hand.
For the first week, the duck was small enough to stay in a big
box in the house, and everything was fine. My daughter loved that
fuzzy little yellow ball with a head and two feet. And I must
admit, I kind of liked the “cheep, cheep” sound it made.
Occasionally changing the paper bedding in the box and making
sure the duck had plenty to eat and drink was about all we had to
do to keep it.
Ducks grow
But as time went on, the duck wouldn’t stay in the box. And if it
did, I sort of wished it hadn’t because of the mess it would make
in the box. I guess it was a whole lot better to have the mess in
the box than all over the house.
Give a duck enough time, and nature has a definite plan for it.
It wasn’t long before the fuzz changed to feathers, the “cheep”
changed to “quack,” the cute changed to ugly and the duck went
outside.
An Easter duck outside creates other problems. For one thing, I
must have been firmly imprinted into the heart and mind of that
duck. It thought I was its mama. I couldn’t go anywhere outside
without that stupid duck following right at my heels.
Finding a home
I carried it to the pond in the pasture behind our house, where
it swam contentedly until it realized I’d left it there. A duck
in a big hurry can waddle really fast. It almost beat me back to
the house.
And I didn’t dare go outside barefooted. I didn’t like cold
surprises on the bottom of my bare foot.
By now, Lindsay had all but forgotten about the duck. So I put it
with other ducks in a friend’s pond several miles away. It stayed
this time.
If you’re thinking about giving a baby animal as an Easter
present, please consider the parents. Ask if they really want one
and if they can and will take care of it.
Consider the animal itself. Far too many of these animals are
cruelly abandoned. They deserve better than that.
Yes, baby animals are cute. But they don’t stay that way.
