If it’s springtime, it must be backyard duck season for one Bakersfield couple
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Just because Bakersfield is approaching a million residents doesn’t mean wildlife has deserted the city. Far, far from it. A southeast Bakersfield couple was reminded of that fact this week.
Tiana Smalls and her husband T.J. have been welcoming the same pair of ducks to their Bakersfield backyard for several years. The ducks treat the couple’s pool like their personal pond, and browse the open adjacent fields for leaves, fallen fruit, flowers, insects, frogs and pretty much anything that is smaller and slower.
So it’s a welcome sign of spring when the ducks — nicknamed Charla and Monty — return.
This year was different — different, multiplied. A week ago Tiana looked out into the backyard of the couple’s rental and counted nine ducklings — nine.
“They don’t make messes,” Tiana said. “They don’t usually poop on the deck or whatever. They just come, hang out, and then they’ll leave. So they’ve been doing that for about four years, maybe five, and this year I happened to see them, you know, and I’ll wave.”
Unlike her sweet, older rescue dog, Sarah, a new mother, Tiana doesn’t feed or interact much with the ducks. They’re wild creatures who will either survive predators like cats and hawks — or they won’t.
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“It’s a whole little ecosystem back here,” Tiana said.
Already the brood of baby ducks has dropped from nine to six. One little guy got a warm bath and some sunflower seeds but didn’t make it.
Tiana hopes to keep the rest around until it’s time to migrate — but she’s realistic.
The Smallses have no plans to turn their rental into a wild game preserve, but they’re happy to have taken things this far.
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