Man wrote an obituary about — wait for it — a duck

Here’s why you should give a quack.

Bonnie “the BILOXI, MISS. — goodtime duck” waddled her way into the hearts of William “Andy” Linville and his granddaughter, Hailey Hickerson, during their regular trips to Hiller Park in Biloxi.

Well, they assume Bonnie was a girl. This duck could have been a guy. They’re not sure.

Whattheydoknowisthat the duck with the funny tuft is no longer with us. Bonnie has gone to a duck pond in the beyond. And Linville was moved to write an obituary for the duck who brought so much joy to him and Hailey.

“With a saddened heart I am reporting the passing of Bonnie ‘the goodtime duck’ of Hiller Park,” Linville wrote. “Bonnie was known by many

d throwers because of the fashionable feather bun worn on the top of her/his head. Bonnie was thought to be a female because of her highfashion hairdos, but male mating tendencies describe him as being male.”

Bonnie was a crested duck, so called because of the powder puff of feathers, and a mutation causes the crest. The confusion about Bonnie’s gender began when Linville saw the duck behaving unchar- acteristically during mating season.

“During mating season, she, or he, would beat up on a mal- lard,” he said. “So I really don’t know what was going on. It wasn’t like Bonnie to do that.”

Visiting the ducks in the park on a regular basis has been a longtime treat for Lin- ville and his granddaughter.

e been going out there probably eight years,” he said. “One year, we started notic- ing t herewasadiffer ent one. My granddaughter had started naming them. There was this one with a bun on its head, and she wears her hair in a bun, so we started looking for that duck every time. We’d call out for her, and she began recog- nizing her name. We’d holler, and she’d start running for the van.”

Hailey noticed that she and Bonnie often had similar hair days.

“My granddaughter would be having a bad hair day, and she’d see that Bonnie’s feath- ers were fuzzy that day. Or anot her day they would be slicked back like she had been in the water,” Linville said.

“Bonnie was retir e d, unable to fly, but a fast runner,” Linville wrote. “Bonnie was smart, always coming in close from behind to get that bread and avoid those agoniz- ing seagulls.”

Bonnie was both friendly and shy.

“She’d eat right next to your feet, and she’d look at you, directly in the eyes,” Linville said. “But she wouldn’t take it from your hand. She would approach with caution.”

“Bonni eissurvivedbyher closest friend, Copper, who looks just like Bonnie without the bun on top. Bonnie and Copper were always together, and Black Duck was always close behind. Pickles, the big white goose and his sidekick, The Old Gray Goose, were close acquaintances.

“Bonnie did not like the mallard and would chase him down and try to drown him, but the mallard stayed between the two fat white ducks for pro- tection,” he wrote. “The pack of ugly ducks were longtime friends of Bonnie. However, the Canada geese won’t have to compete with Bonnie for food. It was like playing Duck, Duck, Goose when the Cana- dians were in town.”

Copper, Linville said, has been a little lonely since Bonnie’s passing.

Copper is just waddling around behind the two black ducks now,” he said.

“Bonnie will truly be missed by many. He/she was a good duck, and Hiller Park just isn’t the same without Bonnie,” Linville wrote. “Hopefully the good Lord has a rainbow bridge for ducks, with beau- tiful ponds and green mead- ows. We will always remember Bonnie.”

Living in Your Pet’s World

Teddy likes chomping on ice cubes. Most dog parents I t alktosay their dogs also enjoy the “cube.”

A dropped ice cube is Teddy’s prey. First, he pounceso nthe frozen goodness. If it slides away, Teddy tracks it, nose to the floor.

The pooch places a front paw on the cube to stop it from sliding. When Teddy has it firmly in his mouth he takes his catch to the living room. He’s learned that ice cubes don’t slide on carpet.

Teddy teases the ice cube by tossing it several times in the a ir.Then he picks it back up and shakes his head back and forth.

He lets the cube know who’s in control — and it’s not the ice cube. Teddy’s final move is to plop down and crunch his prize. It’s gone in several bites.

Sunny, a blonde lab living in Atlanta with her parents, my niece and her husband, Lauren and Dan Bi sanz,ad ores ice cubes, too.

The 5-month-old puppy watched her mom work the refrigerator’s ice dispenser. Sunny saw the cold cubes pouring out of the silver box. Like mother like daughter. Sunnyj umped up and pushed the ice dispenser button and, to her delight, ice cubes tumbled out.

Sadly for Teddy, our refrigerator doesn’t have an ice dispenser on the outside door.

Writing for petmed. com,Dr.S usan C. Nelson, clinical professor at the Veterinary Health Center at Kansas State University, says ice cubes can cause tooth breakag eindogs. The larger and harder the cube, the higher the chance of this occurring.

I never thought an ice cube could hurt a dog’s teeth. The way Teddy shreds through a supposed indestructible toy, one wou ldth in khis teeth were made of steel. But once again there ’sadoctorsaying,w ith good rea- son, there is something that isn’t good for my fourlegged pal.

So as much as I’ve enjoyed watching my furry child attack ice cubes, I’m no longer going to drop ice cubes, on purpose, on the floor. Teddy needs his teeth.

Lauren wants Sunny’s teeth maintaining their healthy glow. She also doesn’t want Sunny spewing ice cubes all over the kitchen floor.

Dr. Jill DiFazio, critical care specialist with the Veterinary Emergency and Referral Group in New York City, suggests on petmed.com using smaller cubes or shavings and giving ice in moderation.

That sounds more than reasonable.

Lauren is discouraging Sunny from using the ice dispenser. When the now 10-month-old pup hears the dispenser, she sprints intothekitchenand sits next to the fridge, waiting for her mom to fill her dog bowl with a few ice-cold nuggets.

As the cubes melt, Sunny bobs for them like a child would bob for apples on Halloween. When the cubes are gone, the furry child’s face is soaked and the floor need sa mop. But Sunny’s teeth are less likely to have suffered any damage.

Teddy doesn’t like ice cubes in his water dish. Baby carrots have replaced ice cubes as his “prey.”

Now when Teddy prances to the refrigerator when I open the freezer section I guiltily say, “Sorry, bud, but ice cubes can hurt your teeth.” My iced tea isn’t bad warm.

Spic agazine writer, has been entertaining families for more than 20 years. She lives in Bellbrook with her family and two furry animals inspiration for

She can be reached at spicerkarin@gmail.com.