BANGOR, Maine — A mother duck nested on the Kenduskeag Stream footbridge hatched five ducklings Tuesday and there might be more to come, a local bank employee said.
“There were two walking around this morning,” Renee Roche of the downtown Bangor Savings Bank branch said Wednesday.
The duck is nesting in a flower box on the footbridge between the Pickering Square parking garage and the Bank of America building and has been there for nearly a month, Roche said.
A small bowl of water and some bread crumbs are next to the duck, with the ducklings huddled around.
“We’ve been checking on the duck periodically,” Roche said, adding that while local skateboarders caused concern for the duck’s health and safety, there have been no problems so far.
Hanging adjacent to the flower box, a sign reads, “Please don’t touch the duck, thank you, have a nice day.”
Two healthy ducklings hatched sometime Tuesday, Roche added, though the first three were stillborn. The bank employee said there are about three more eggs that have yet to hatch.
The Bangor animal control officer wasn’t available for comment, but Orrington Animal Control Officer Carla Brown said passers-by should keep their distance from the duck and ducklings for several reasons. Sometimes mother ducks are known to attack anyone who is perceived as a threat, she said, and sometimes frequent human interaction can mislead a duck into trusting every human it meets.
“The rule for wild animals is that it should be hands off,” Brown said.
As for why the first three ducklings were stillborn, Brown said it might have been the frequent rainfall.
“They could have gotten hypothermic with all the rain that could wear down the oil on their downy feathers,” Brown said.
I always cringe when I read these stories about wildlife nesting in developed areas. This reminds me of the family of ducks I saw nesting in a trash filled culvert along Stillwater Avenue a couple of weeks ago, or last years story about ducks building a nest in the ‘garden center’ at the new Home Depot (formerly known as Penjajawock Marsh). For an informed person, this junk is more alarming than endearing.
So true, and now even worse, someone will go mess with them now that it has been made more public.
Wait ’til the ducklings emerge in all that traffic next to the site. Ducks seem to be more prone to taking chances with their nesting/den areas than other animals; doubt if any squirrel or raccoon would expose their offspring to such a public place. Being wary of humans is the major element to success.
The only upside I can see to this is that some adults and children, who otherwise would not, might stop and think about nature’s wonders and appreciate the hardships they face.
I wonder if this is the same duck that had a nest in Home Depot last year? I hope people leave her alone, now that it has been made public about her nest.
Good luck to you, Mamma Duck, and your babies! Watch out for the cars!
Who will be the first person to mess with these, now its been posted public. I walked through there yesterday for lunch and a couple of kids were looking at the duck. Maybe they will put a camera to watch them for a few days until its over with
I object to the term stillborn being used here. Ducks are not born, they are hatched. Three eggs did not successfully develop.
I strongly think that this should not have been posted in the paper. Do you realize the jeopardy you have now put these ducklings in? Alot of transits and other people that are up to no good at 3AM in the morning could now possibly harm these ducks! Way to go BDN you probly just ruined the lives of these ducklings!
Kind of like the guy who threw rocks at the seagull he lured in with food until it died last year in the Pickering Square…lots of bad folks in this world.
The duck’s been evicted! I just walked over the bridge. There’s 2 planters, and they’re both completely cleaned out. Ducks, dirt, all gone!
I asked a couple of City DPW guys down there. They didn’t know anything about the duck.