It turns out Newmarket's "celebrity duck" is a mandarin on the lam.
Attempts to retrieve Eddie the mandarin duck from Newmarket's Fairy Lake will continue into the weekend, as his owner asks people not to feed him and keep their distance, so he will climb into his crate and go home.
The strikingly coloured male duck has been seen at Fairy Lake for the past several days, attracting many excited birders and looky-loos to its shores, hoping to catch a glimpse of him among the other ducks.
Ever the adventurous spirit, this is not the first time Eddie has slipped away from his aviary on Tracey Harpley's farm outside of Newmarket and made his way to Fairy Lake. The last time though, his owners retrieved him within a couple of days.
This time, however, all the attention from his admiring public has made it difficult to retrieve him.
"If people could just not feed him, that would be great," Harpley told NewmarketToday. "We are trying to get him, we are just getting overwhelmed by the people. Most people are respectful, but if everyone backed off a little bit it would be helpful."
Harpley is a wildlife rescue worker licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources who cares for many different kinds of animals at her farm.
"Of all of the people to lose a domestic duck, I'm the one that runs a wildlife rescue," she said.
Eddie is one of several fancy breed ducks that Harpley and her family keep on their farm. He even has a mate who is waiting for him at home.
Harpley has been working with local animal control officers and Toronto Wildlife to get him back. Twice now, they almost had him, only for Eddie to be spooked at the last moment.
"We found out where he goes at night and (a woman and her husband who live nearby) tried to lure him into their house. They were so damn close. He stepped into the kitchen with the husband behind the door; they let him do it a couple of times. Then one of their neighbours banged on something across the street, and he hopped off the deck," said Harpley.
The second time, they nearly got Eddie to walk into a cage containing another duck from the farm. But then someone walked up to take a picture, and the duck was startled by the camera. The photographer apologized and offered to help retrieve him without a camera.
"(Eddie) had his head in and the whole nine yards," she said, exasperated.
The cameraman, the couple at the house, and animal control are not the only ones who have offered to help get Eddie back. Several people have offered their assistance.
One person offered to go into the lake wearing hip waders to grab him. When pictures of Eddie appeared on a local hunting forum, Harpley began to worry. But local hunters offered supplies such as grouse screens to help with the rescue efforts.
But if people really want to help Eddie get home, said Harpley, then the best thing to do is not to feed him and to stay back from the lake. If he gets hungry and the ice continues to freeze over, he may climb into his crate or simply fly home.
Failing that, they may try to net him instead.
"We have a pretty good plan, and we may be able to get him this weekend, whether, on Saturday or Sunday, we'll see," she said. "We just need to get our ducks in a row."
