Friendship is a wonderful thing to have. Two creatures from different species can get along swimmingly. It’s not unusual to see a dog befriend a cat.
But is it usual for an owl and a duckling to become a couple? This is a true story. Laurie Carver-Estes, a wildlife artist, captured this unique image.
Laurie Carver-Estes, a wildlife artist, was out in her backyard one evening when she noticed something strange: a duckling inside one of her birdhouses, escorted by an owl!
Laurie had a hard time believing what she was seeing at first. She, on the other hand, instantly got out her camera and snapped a photo.
It might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What a weird couple!
She believes the owl hatched the duckling after a female duck laid an egg in the nesting box.
Her family had seen a female Wood Duck remove a duck egg from another nesting box that had been raided and place it in this box a few weeks before.
She stated on Facebook, “[W]e believe she put it in this box and the owl hatched it.”
A short time later, the baby duck was “in the hole by itself, calling for the parents”. The duckling made its way through the woods to a nearby pond.
“We believe they heard each other because it suddenly left the box and made a beeline for the back fence and our neighbor’s pond where the woodies have been hanging out.” Laurie explained.
Although the pond is in a quiet, secluded region, Laurie informed a local television station that she believes the duckling was reunited with its parents.
She went on to say that the shot will most likely become “the most unique of my whole life.”