Hello, here is Oskar again. Do you remember? I’ve already told you some time ago how I feel about my family. And today I want to talk to you about my attempt to show my love to them – which is not very easy.
It is not always that simple in my family, you already know. Since we are a patchwork family and each one has his own way of communicating his affection to the rest of the family, I have to make a double effort as I am the smallest member.
When I was still a duckling, I was always allowed to sit on ‘daddy’s’ chest and pluck at his designer stubble. By the time I got bigger, sometimes it got a little bit bloody for him and I was not allowed to do that anymore. Since then, I have had to spend my time outside in the garden and at night in my stable.
But now it feels like I’m always alone in the garden, especially when it’s bad weather, and for a ‘gregarious animal’ like me that is not really what I want. So I’m always happy when someone comes out and I can run after him. Especially someone like my favorite dog! For us ducks, it’s just that we want to clean the plumage of the other one, right away, to say, “Hey, I like you!” But in my family it’s only me to have a plumage and I can’t arrange the feathers for anybody else. So I have to try to clean the coat or directly the bare skin of them!
As everyone is so incredibly tall and I’m just very small, I try very often to jump up to do so. For example, I run next to the big dog and then jump. Mostly I reach with the beak in his mouth, sometimes I catch his fast paws, the belly or I pull on his tail. But that bothers him often, gets him very angry and he snaps at me, takes me in his snout, pressing me flat on the ground, but never ever hurting me.
And I’m smart! And run under his belly and bite his hind paws. Then he has to dance around himself to get me. And I run…. But sometimes it doesn’t work out that way and we get some sores on snout and beak. Mine looks pretty damaged anyway, because his teeth are not the most delicate and my beak is soft!
About my humans, things are different. They do not have feathers or fur, and when I ‘nibble’ a little on their bare skin, I often get a slap. Sometimes it’s a little bit too much and I better go along! And other times I hang on their pants and they walk with me hanging on their legs. That’s fun but most times I have to let them go and stay behind.
From time to time, however, I have the feeling that they misunderstand me and think I’m attacking them. Well, it happens they are right, in some moments they really get on my nerves! But most of the times I just want to say, “I’m glad you’re here, stay with me, I’ll clean your feathers!” … but I’ll be pushed away. No one understands me! Please, let me show you my love.. my way.
Somehow my humans are more used to the big dog and the crawling for me is like completely ruffled feathers. Some moments my human gets it right and crawls me gently under my wings. I appreciate that a lot, close my eyes, enjoying and look up to her. Or it happens that the giant dog and I are lying or sitting peacefully next to each other and we both watch the creeping cat in the neighboring garden. Those are very nice, loving moments!
A quack-quack from a sometimes lonely male duck!
