Tango and Taffy the ducks have lots of luck,
Tango and Taffy might not have survived such a bitter winter outdoors
Taffy and Tango are quacktastically lucky ducks two times over: First they escaped the frying pan; then they avoided the fire — the fiery cold of February’s polar vortex, that is.
The all-white ducks with the bright orange bills and feet are Pekins, mallards that were domesticated several thousand years ago. Their intended purpose in life is to be good eating, most likely in a fancy restaurant. As domesticated animals, they lack the necessary qualities to survive and thrive in the wild.
So when Taffy, a female, and Tango, a male, were dropped off at a little gravel beach near the Leslie Street Spit last October sometime, they earned a second chance at life. Surely the person who left the two ducks there wanted to save them from becoming the main course in someone’s dinner.
The Pekins, who have an inseparable bond, had lots of company at the beach — scores of their wild mallard brethren, lots of Canada geese and several dozen trumpeter swans — and they fared well over the late fall and into winter. There were plenty of people feeding them regularly, mostly corn and bread.
But as winter deepened, the Pekins faced risks. They were unaccustomed to the harsh temperatures and having to obtain food for themselves. Unable to fly well, they could well be “sitting ducks” for predators like the coyotes, foxes and off-leash dogs that frequent the area.
Here’s where Taffy and Tango got lucky the second time. Animal rights activist Jenny McQueen, along with a small army of helpers, rescued the two Pekins on Jan. 14, just in time for the birds to avoid the plummeting temperatures that were surely coming. And did they ever. When the polar vortex slid down from the Arctic toward the end of January, it plunged most of the continent into a deep freeze.
Discussing the rescue of her “little sweethearts” in livestreamed videos she posted to Facebook and Instagram, McQueen called it “an absolute miracle.” In the end, after 11 days of trying to catch the ducks safely, it took Jenny and her husband, Peter — along with several helpers on land, a man in a canoe, a standup paddle boarder, two kayakers in the water, and an off-duty fireman who pitched in — to corral the skittish Pekins into nets. From there, the rescuers gently manoeuvred the ducks out of the nets and into a large carrier cage.
After some high-fives on the beach, McQueen and her husband took the ducks to their own home for the night. The next day they took the ducks to their new “forever home,” a sanctuary in the Caledon hills, northwest of Toronto. The woman who runs the sanctuary, Nikki Virgona, had seen McQueen’s videos on social media and reached out, offering to take the ducks.
When I contacted Virgona, she graciously offered to show me Taffy and Tango’s new home in the hills, and my husband and I drove up to see them.
Virgona welcomed us and escorted us into one of the barns on the 35-acre property owned by her grandfather. But calling the ducks’ new home a barn is a bit like calling the Hope Diamond a gem. This large, heated building, flooded with sunshine on this frigid winter day, was originally constructed to house horses. When we were there, each horse stall was redolent of the fresh hay on the floor, and kept spotless by several assistants.
When Nikki showed us to Taffy and Tango’s stall, I was delighted to see these two plucky ducks so well settled in their dazzling new home. The two birds, as tightly bonded as burs on burlap, have everything they need: continuous access to fresh water and healthy food — poultry pellets and vegetables (they love kale and cucumber) — plus occasional fruit treats. They were snacking on a bowl of fresh blueberries when we arrived.
Taffy and Tango have plenty of company, all rescues, in their barn: more Pekins in a different stall, geese, Muscovy ducks, horses, cats, peacocks, a parakeet and some cats, three of which are available for adoption.
The property has a large pond, and, once warmer weather arrives, the waterfowl will be able to get to it via a series of fenced-in ramps that lead from the barn down the hill, directly to the pond.
Virgona herself is a lifelong animal lover who has rescued animals in China and volunteered with Animal Aid Unlimited in India. She graduated from Carleton University, went on to graduate from the veterinary technician program at Seneca College, and now works as a vet tech at an animal hospital.
With the not-for-profit organization she’s launching, called Who Saved Who Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, she is fulfilling a dream. Who Saved Who may have started as a dream, but for Taffy and Tango, it’s become their quacking good fortune.
For more information, you can email Virgona at Rescue@whosavedwho.ca.
M.L. Bream is a former Star editor and Wild in the City columnist now writing a book about the swans of Ashbridge’s Bay. You can reach her at wildinthecitytoronto@gmail.com