Monaco’s father duck dies

The patriarch of a shrinking flock of ducks in Monaco was the next victim of ‘fowl play’ on Sunday afternoon.

Resident Shelly Sidwell says her husband Grant found the deceased father paradise duck at around 4.30pm while out on his walk.

She says the remains had been moved to the grass by the footpath adjacent to the Grand Arden.

“[The duck was] hit hard… we were devastated, everybody was so upset to hear that this had actually happened,” she says.

“The cars go so fast coming up over the overbridge and around that bend, they just need to be more accountable for their speed.

“If you were going at a normal speed, you would not hit the ducks, even if they were in the middle of the road crossing.”

Shelly says Grant and one of their neighbours buried the father duck by the estuary.

Nelson Weekly reported on 11 December that Monaco resident Jamie Jarvie installed signs with her husband Blake Abbott to advise drivers to slow down for the ducks at the bend between Songer St and Point Rd.

Four of the eight ducklings had died in recent weeks, and Jamie was saddened to learn the remaining four now had no father.

“Our signs, Facebook posts and newspaper articles weren’t enough to warn people driving too fast around that bend towards Monaco,” she says.

“I was surprised to hear it was the father who got hit, he was the protector.

“He always stayed at the back of the line while they crossed the road to make sure the rest of his family made it over to the other side safely.

“Paradise ducks mate for life so that poor female will be without her partner, and the ducklings without a father to watch over them.”

Her plea was for drivers to get their ducks in a row.

“Please can everyone be more cautious on the roads and slow down,” she says.

“If it’s not a duck crossing the road, it could be a child.”