Duck Dies Weeks After Mate Found Mauled To Death
POSTED: 6:28 pm EDT June 10, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A duck moved to a wildlife hospital after its mate was mauled has itself died, and one of its former keepers blames a broken heart -- not the bird's broken leg.
Heckle, whose mate Jeckle was found dead and headless two weeks ago, was found dead in her pen Tuesday at WildCare Inc., where she had stayed for 13 days for treatment of a broken leg.
"It's a real mystery. She seemed to be doing fine, but for some reason, died during the night. No one knows why," said Bob Foyut, a WildCare board member in charge of raptors and water fowl.
Heckle and Jeckle had been a fixture at Bloomington's Bell Trace retirement community this spring. After Heckle broke a leg, Jon Vestuto, the retirement center's assistant maintenance manager, built a pen so that the bird could recuperate.
Heckle stayed there, with Jeckle at her side until he was mauled to death by a predator.
Vestuto, who moved Heckle to WildCare fearing the predator might return to kill again, believes Heckle "died of a broken heart."
"I think she missed Jeckle," he said.
When he learned of Heckle's death, Vestuto picked up her carcass and buried it alongside Jeckle's.
Now, two white crosses stand sentry over the east end of the Bell Trace pond, reminders of a pair of small ducks that stole and broke the hearts of some senior citizens.
Mary Salz, a Bell Trace resident, said the ducks were absolutely inseparable.
"They were never more than two feet away from one another," she said. "Wherever you saw one, you saw the other. They were a pair."
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