The search for a bunch of runner ducks has brought Rijsenhouters closer together in recent days. Both ducks have now been found, says owner Antoinette, and are recuperating in the rabbit run in her backyard. “We are now discovering that there is a lot of sympathy for the ducks. They have so many fans.”
The ducks ‘walked up’ to Antoinette’s house on the Otweg about four years ago, she says. “They were run after by a dog.” Since runner ducks cannot fly, Antoinette decides to save the ducks and give them shelter in her backyard.
“They lived there for two years.” Then their urge for freedom became so great that they escaped through the hedgehog gate, although they stayed close. “Our backyard borders on water,” she says about the ditch behind her house. “They had a great time there, so we left it that way. We fed them in the morning, neighbor Riet in the afternoon.”
fans
Since then, the Ducks have built up quite a fan base. “There is also a dog field on the water, so many people who walk their dogs there also know them. They are always together. There are other ducks swimming, including wild ducks, but these are the only runner ducks here.”
With their integration, things never really went smoothly: there has never been any romance between the runners and other ducks. “And I’ve never seen friendships either,” says Antoinette.
Fortunately, many Rijsenhouters do have a warm heart for the two runner ducks, as it turned out earlier this week. “A neighbor had seen on Monday how someone had taken the male duck out of the ditch after it had been hit by a car. But because the man didn’t know what to do, he had put it in another ditch.”
At the direction of the neighbor, Antoinette and her family went looking for the runner duck. With success, because he is found the same day. “He was still alive,” says Antoinette, “only with some wounds on his beak and a lame leg.”
Antibiotics
After the vet prescribed the duck a course of antibiotics, Antoinette took him home to let him regain strength in the rabbit run. “But then the female was lost, so I was very worried and got one message on Facebook placed.”
That missing person case was also quickly resolved, because soon Antoinette received a phone call from a resident of the Aalsmeerdeweg. “She said that she sat in her garden, that the ducks often sat together there and that they always enjoyed it very much.”
Aggressive swans
In the meantime, Antoinette has also picked up the female duck and reunited it with her mate. A comeback in the ditch is out of the question because of the risks for Antoinette. “There are also swans that aggressively protect their nests, so we are now going to think about what we are going to do with them.”
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Not only Antoinette, but also neighbor Riet has become particularly attached to the runner ducks in the past year and a half, she tells NH News. “It’s a shame they aren’t there anymore.” She says she fed the ducks daily. “And sometimes I also walked in the evening.”
She emphasizes that the ducks always received real duck food from her, and not bread. Now that they are temporarily at home with Antoinette, she regularly visits the sick. Riet also prefers not to see the ducks return to the ditch. “For the swans are the culprits”