STRAWBERRY PLAINS, Tenn. — A beloved duck who was well known and cherished in a Strawberry Plains community passed away Friday, according to a family who was taking care of her.
The Hosea family said they noticed Daryl acting strangely in their yard Friday night and decided to take her into their home since the weather was expected to drop to freezing temperatures that night.
They said Daryl then collapsed and passed away, surrounded by people who loved her.
They set up an appointment with a veterinarian soon after, to determine her exact cause of death. They said the veterinarian found two things that stood out to him.
First, he said a part of her large intestine, the cecum, had turned black. The veterinarian said that it could have been caused by an infection or a kind of toxicity, according to the family.
Second, he said Daryl had been eating seeds with a pink coating, which would be usually applied as a preservative on packaged seeds. He said the coating could have been toxic to her and could have caused the black portion in her intestine, according to the family.
The family said they did not want to leave her at the veterinarian's office, so they brought her back to their home. There, they decided to bury her and keep her "close to all the ones who loved her so much."
Daryl was named after the family bought three ducklings in March 2020 and was named after a character from The Walking Dead. They later released the ducks into a pond, and Daryl was the only one who came back. He hung out around the neighborhood ever since.
"He learned his name a few months after he come [sic] back so no matter where he's at in the neighborhood we can go out on the back porch and holler, 'Hey, Daryl,'" said John Hosea, who helped raise Daryl.
Later, in 2021, she was found on the road with feathers everywhere. It looked like she had been injured, so the community banded together to get her the treatment she needed. They raised $1,155 to get her treatment, and Daryl was later able to walk again.
A group on social media was also created, giving people constant updates about Daryl and sharing funny images about the community's pet duck.
"Her sweet little soul will forever be remembered in our community and in our hearts," Hosea said to the group on Jan. 31.