I knew when we got ducks that I needed to prepare myself for a pet that might have a short lifespan. Sadly, sweet Bandit passed away on April 20th just a few weeks short of her first birthday. I really don't know what happened. She passed away in her sleep.

My Sweet Bandit

Poor Bandit never seemed to bounce back to normal after being attacked by the neighbor's horrible dog back during early winter. I think the event traumatized her so that she was always stressed out. Bandit became the watcher for the other ducks and would stand away from the group watching for danger. After the dog attack she was very paranoid and I'd hear her making a specific quack I think meant "danger" frequently even though the group was safe. She had the other ducks constantly moving out of fear.

I think she was so traumatized by the dog attack she didn't take care of herself. She let the others focus on eating while she guarded them. I think the stress she felt slowly deteriorated her health. There wasn't anything I could do for her. She grew stressed out by me being around and fearful of everything. Stress can kill birds so I kept my distance a lot not wanting to cause her distress.

I noticed she was laying down a lot several days before she died. I kept her and the other ducks locked in their pen to force her to rest. I let them out a few days later to free range and she seemed fine. Then, the next day it rained and I found her laying down by herself behind the shed which was weird. I put her in her pen with the others. I found her the next morning curled up in her nest in a sleeping position and instantly knew she was gone because she didn't move. The only consolation is she died feeling safe in her own bed.

Baby Bandit

My husband and I were both heartbroken. She was our favorite duck. My husband even cried at losing her which surprised me because he doesn't cry often. Her sister Smokey and our other two ducks Sammy and Reeses were out of sorts for a while after losing her. They saw my husband carry Bandit's body off to bury her and they kept trying to escape up the mountain to go where he took her.

I had to lock them up for a few days out of fear they'd get lost in the woods looking for Bandit. They needed time to readjust. Locking them up helped them calm down and figure out their group without their friend.

Now that a little time has passed I can see how bad the dog attack must have effected Bandit. Smokey, Sammy, and Reeses are extremely calm now. Before Bandit was so paranoid she was alerting them to danger all the time. She had them running away from me and constantly on the move. Now that she's gone, the other ducks are much calmer. They come and chill with me again and don't run from me. I rarely hear panicked quacks which were frequent after Bandit was attacked. It's sad she was so traumatized. Because of her fear she was constantly strung out and made the other ducks fearful all the time.

My husband and I had a long talk after she died and we agreed that replacing Bandit was in the other ducks best interests. Bandit was the guard of the group and I worry about the safety of the other ducks without that dominant figure. This week we'll be receiving our first male duck and two more females. I had to order 3 ducks because of the companies shipping rules. Hopefully the male will protect his girls and maybe in the future baby ducks to sell will be a possibility.

I'm still very sad at losing Bandit. It's strange not hearing her unique quack around the yard anymore. It's never easy to lose a pet. She was a beautiful little duck and it's a shame she's gone so early in her life.