Do you remember? The adorable duckling Puk, who was suddenly abandoned by his mother in Teteringen in 2020, in the garden of the Van Oirschot family. The story went viral and people everywhere talked about the tame chick who slept in a dog basket and toddled behind his human ‘mother’ Robin. Now, six years later, Puk is still part of the family. In fact, he has gained a ‘sister’: Billie.
Puk, now a large adult duck, was left behind as a chick six years ago when his mother suddenly left with her eight other young. The Van Oirschot family did not have the heart to leave the duckling to its fate and took care of the chick. “It felt like he needed us,” says daughter Robin. But a year later the exact same thing happened, again with the same mother duck: all the chicks left except one. That chick became Billie.
According to ‘foster mother’ Robin, they are two completely different ducks. Male Puk is especially social and very cuddly, while female Billie is shy and very selective when it comes to who is allowed to touch her. “With Billie it is extra special when she does come to you,” says Robin.
“Puk just doesn’t know how to do ‘it’.”
Although Puk and Billie have the same mother, Puk has seen his ‘sister’ as his great love for years. He regularly tries to get closer, but according to Robin he is hilariously clumsy in doing so. “He just doesn’t know how to do ‘it’,” she says, laughing. “He trips, falls over her, is upside down… and then it’s over again.”
Billie endures it resignedly, but there are no young ducks. “And to be honest, that’s a good thing,” adds father Marc. “Two ducks is more than enough.”
And what happens to the eggs that Billie occasionally lays? These are not fertilized and often very small, but the family does not throw them away. “We make banana bread from it,” Robin says cheerfully. “That is the advantage of having a diva duck in the house.”
“If you release Puk and Billie into the wild, they will be dead within a day.”
While Puk toddles leisurely through the garden and Billie takes a bath, Marc explains that the ducks’ stay with his family may not be entirely permitted according to the letter of the law. “Formally, you are not allowed to keep birds from the wild and we know that,” he explains. “But if they are born in your garden and left there, have they been taken from nature?”
The Van Oirschot family does not think so and is supported in this. “The vet said: these are not wild ducks, but soup ducks. If you release them into the wild, they will be dead within a day. And no one wants that anyway.”
Yet six years ago there was a commotion. Puk had gone to investigate while flying and landed in someone else’s garden. The owner thought the duck was lost and took Puk to the animal ambulance. “And they wanted to release him into the wild,” mother Marjan says, still indignant. “But he wouldn’t survive that.”
The Van Oirschot family therefore went to pick up Puk, but that got completely out of hand. Marjan says he was attacked by an animal ambulance employee after an altercation. “He grabbed me by the throat while my children were standing there,” she says. “The police had to be involved, but a report yielded nothing, because our children were not valid witnesses. Ultimately, the police decided that Puk could be taken home due to his tameness and dependence.”
“Puk and Billie still often lie on the couch with us.”
Nowadays, Puk (and also Billie) can no longer fly due to a minor, painless procedure and life with the two ducks is above all very pleasant. They sleep outside in a special cage, but are also allowed inside. “Then they often come and lie on the couch with us, because they are real cuddly animals,” says Robin, who, together with his brother Marijn, pays a lot of attention to the pair. “But they also have their own baskets.”
With a bit of luck, Puk and Billie can live to be thirty years old and the family hopes that they will continue to happily potter in and around their house for a long time to come. While Puk taps Robin curiously, Billie parades through the garden for a while. “They both really belong to us,” says Robin. “Puk is still that cuddly duck from the past and Billie remains our diva.” Six years after their unexpected arrival, the two house ducks have become permanent fixtures in the family. Each with its own character, but both indispensable.