Lakeport >> An unlikely friendship has occurred on the shores of Clear Lake. For over three years now, a domestic pekin duck and a domestic goose have been thick as thieves, eating, swimming and napping together through all hours of the day.
Dee McMurdie, who owns property adjacent to the duo’s hangout, took it upon herself to name the birds; the duck she calls Daisy, while the goose has been dubbed Noisy. Though McMurdie doesn’t actually know their genders, she likes to think of the pair as female.
She said Daisy and Noisy just showed up one day, no hints as to where they had come from or how long they had been together. They were already bonded, and they’ve been guarding the patch of grass beside her home ever since.
“They’re the cutest little couple,” she said. “I used to sit and watch them for hours.”
As strange as it may seem, it’s not unusual for two different species of domesticated fowl to form a bond like Daisy and Noisy, said Terry Knight, Outdoors Columnist for the Record-Bee. The two will even remain together until they die.
According to Knight, Daisy and Noisy have bonded not to mate, but for companionship. “Different species of duck, they don’t cross breed,” he explained.
Birds born in the wild don’t play by the same rules, though. Other than feeding together, “wild ducks and wild geese don’t bond, they don’t have anything to do with each other,” Knight said.
But you can dispel any notions about games of duck, duck, goose. Knight said that if another domesticated duck were added to the mix, Daisy would have bonded with that bird instead, leaving Noisy behind.
So perhaps it’s fortunate that there were no other domesticated birds around when the two met. Noisy is rather protective of Daisy, McMurdie said. The 20 other birds that hang around the grassy landscape — about 14 mallards and six large white geese which McMurdie and her husband have dubbed “the renegades” — sometimes pick on the little white duck. When that happens, Noisy fluffs up her feathers in anger.
The pair are familiar with all the neighborhood pets. They know which cats are friendly and which to steer clear of. And the animals know to leave the birds be as well. McMurdie’s large yellow lab Montana pays them no mind as he relaxes on the grass and they quack and honk around him.
Noisy, Daisy and other ducks not native to Clear Lake survive off the good will of residents like McMurdie, who feeds them Cheerios each morning. Domesticated ducks don’t migrate south during the winter due to an inability to fly, so they must be fed year round. Fortunately, there are plenty of people enamored of the animals who bring by a few slices of bread no matter the season.
The birds recognize these friendly faces. When McMurdie goes to feed them, she whistles a short tune, and they all come waddling toward her like a group of excited children.
Since Daisy and Noisy have become something of pets to McMurdie, she’ll be watching out for the pair until they’re no longer around. “They’re definitely the odd couple,” she said with a laugh.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
