By Steve Weisman

My wife and I live on an oak laden lot in Arthur Heights on the east side of East Okoboji. It’s a great place to see lots of wildlife, but this spring (early April) I was kind of shocked when a drake and hen mallard landed right in the middle of the front yard. I got a photo of the drake and kind of lost sight of the hen. Anyway, he flew away, and that was the last time I saw him.

Then in mid-April, I was cleaning up the clumps of prairie grass in our 6’ x 6’ raised garden. Using my battery powered hedge trimmer, I cut down the first clump, and as I went to remove the cut grass, less than 10 inches away sat the hen mallard on her nest.

Shocked, I slowly stepped back, all the while watching the mallard. She never moved! Never flinched! She just looked straight ahead. I got my camera, snapped a picture and then left her alone.

I had no idea if she would survive all of the animals that wander through our neighborhood. I was especially worried about raccoons. Yet she did. Over the next couple of weeks, she was on her nest most of the time, but (as they usually do) she left her nest from time to time. I kept my distance, but I did mow the yard weekly, making sure to stay a safe distance away. Every time I mowed, she sat on the nest just like a statue-no movement at all.

Then this past Saturday (May 16), as I mowed the lawn, I checked, and sure enough she was on the nest. As I went past, I happened to look back, and there she was going down the rocks to the lawn followed by 11 little ducklings! I couldn’t believe it. They were ready to head to the lake.

A mallard herder

My big concern was the 150+ yards to the lake, across the main street, through two other lots, across another road, through a final yard and then finally to the lake. I worried about all of the neighborhood activity: four wheelers, bikes, cars, mowers and, yes, dogs. So, I became Mr. Mallard Herder!

She knew where she wanted to go, but with all of the activity was not certain of the exact direction. So, I kept about 10 feet behind her and kind of nudged her across the main street to the neighbor’s yard. Once on the grass, she kind of angled toward the lake. I called out to my neighbor, “Hey Gary. Want to help me herd a hen mallard and her little ones to the lake?”

So, he went on her left side to keep her away from the street, and I stayed on the right side. We let her go at her own speed, but just kept encouraging her to head west to the lake. All the while, she kept a watchful eye on her little ones and kept reassuring them with soft quacks.

As we crossed into the next lot, a series of pine trees lined the perimeter, and she stopped at the first one for a minute or two. I think she was giving her little ones a rest and collecting her own thoughts. All the while, she kept giving the reassuring quacks.

As we approached the next street to cross, Gary went ahead and told a neighbor who was mowing his lawn what we were doing, and he shut the mower off and moved out of the way.

My goal was to herd them along a driveway and then past the house to the lake, but a neighbor gal said, “My lab’s resting on the steps. I’ll get her inside.” That confrontation would certainly have been a mess. So, I herded the mallard more to the left away from that potential disaster. By now, we had four other neighbors following us and taking pictures as we went.

As we moved into the back yard, I saw the next obstacle. It was a rock wall that dropped off about 7-8 feet. There were steps, but the little family had already gone past them. There was certainly no way to get them to turn around. Suddenly, they hit the ledge and the hen stopped with her little ones crowded up against her. She looked around, turned to make sure they were all still there and then dropped off the ledge to the bottom. Now what?

What came next was total trust. The little ducklings had gone right to the edge and stopped. It had to look like the Grand Canyon to them! They kind of milled around, bumping into each other. Then the first one went over, then a second one, another 3-4 went at once…still five left to go. Two made the decision and went over, but three were hesitant. Then two bumped into each other and went over, followed finally by #11.

We all quickly went to the edge of the wall to see if they had survived. After all, that’s a long way down for a little fuzz ball. Sure enough, the mother mallard had gotten all 11 together and single file they followed her through the grass to the rocks. Not once did they slip as they scurried over the rocks and then finally to the water. Hallelujah.

They hit that water, and there was no hesitation. All were in the water swimming like crazy. She quickly herded them along the shore to some good-looking vegetation. Yes, all was well!

It took about a half hour for this journey to transpire, but what fun Gary and I had herding this family of mallards to a safe destination! Hopefully, they will all survive, and they will stick around so we can watch them grow this summer!

Mother hen and her 11 ducklings prepare for their trek to the water.

After the half hour journey, the family is home free.