A lot can happen to a duck in a year.
Finnegan the diapered duck spent the winter indoors floating in the bathtub, strutting in front of mirrors, and watching TV from the foot of his owners’ bed.
During stressful or violent scenes, he’d turn and face the opposite direction, or leave the room. But when the credits rolled, he quacked.
He also survived a bout with avian botulism and was chased by a mother moose.
But perhaps most importantly, Finnegan found a friend.
A year ago, Gene and Michele Cornelius posted a classified ad on the Haines community website in search of a companion, ideally a mate, for Finnegan, the 4-year-old khaki Campbell who spent evenings in a diaper watching TV with Gene and Michele.
Finnegan had become sad and lonely following the death of his mate Phoebe, killed by a lynx.
The Corneliuses became his closest friends. He accompanied them on errands in town and on camping trips. While they were home during the day, he roamed outside near his pen. Once evening came, they brought him inside and diapered him.
Now, Finnegan spends all his time outside the house with Phoebe II.
She’s a robust, “bulbous looking” duck, with “a head too small for her fat body,” Gene said.
Phoebe II arrived in June from a local family who owned a flock of ducks. After learning about Finnegan’s situation, they offered them one of their ducks. The Corneliuses chose the duck that reminded them most of the late Phoebe.
Gene said Finnegan and Phoebe II took to each other immediately. “They’re virtually inseparable.”
If one duck crosses the yard, so does the other. It’s as if they were lifelong sweethearts, he said. They snooze just a couple inches apart from each other in their pen, which is electrified to prevent bear intrusions.
The duck duo wanders around the yard during the day. They enjoy rainy days and the “associated puddles,” Gene said. Their favorite hangout is the composting seaweed pile.
Phoebe II is more guarded than Finnegan. She doesn’t allow the couple to pet her, but she does eat treats from their fingers. “They both go nuts for salmon and crab,” Gene said.
Phoebe has an “obnoxious quack,” Gene said. “She uses her loud honk to inform us that we are disturbing her, especially when we are shooing them back into the pen for the night, or that we are being remiss in our salmon and crab delivery duties.” But she also uses her impressive set of lungs to alert the couple when moose wander into the yard.
In contrast to “clueless” Finnegan, Phoebe II has an eye for winged predators. She can spot a bald eagle hundreds of feet in the air. If the couple sees her with her head up, it’s guaranteed there’s a bird overhead, even if it’s just a dot in the sky.
She’ll “hunker down,” still, watching with a wary eye.
Phoebe II is also a wonderful egg layer, producing one a day.
In addition to the ducks, the couple also has three cats, one of which tries to befriend the ducks. That cat usually gets his face pecked. While they tolerate the cats from a distance, the ducks, particularly Phoebe II, peck the cats’ faces if they get too close.
Despite having his new friend, Finnegan still appreciates having his “mirror friends,” which are still in the pen. Finnegan likes standing on “a hump of grass that serves somewhat as a throne” and gazing into the mirror. Phoebe II watches.
Also, with Phoebe II in the picture, the Corneliuses have gotten some freedom back, as they now can leave the house without bringing a lonely duck along. Their days of “traveling with quackers” are likely over, Gene said. The couple plans to have a duck-free house and diaper-free ducks this winter. There’s no way Phoebe II would let them bring her inside, much less put a diaper on her, he said.