Charlotte Observer, The (NC)
1995-06-05
Section: METRO
Edition: ONE - FOUR
Page: 1C

HUCK'S DUCKS

 DEBORAH PARKHILL MULLIS, Staff Writer

In the past few weeks, Amos Hucks has taken on a dozen new responsibilities as security supervisor at Charlotte's Old City Hall - a future family of twelve ducks.

Hucks, 67, saw a female mallard flying two weeks ago. She landed on a concrete embankment near one of several triangular gardens behind the building. The next morning he noticed a male and a female duck on the lawn. A few days later, he found a nest beneath a holly bush. A screen of pampas grass helped hide the 10 duck eggs inside.

Hucks said he is puzzled by the ducks' nesting so far from the pond at Marshall Park a few blocks away.

``Evidently, she feels more secure here,'' said Hucks, who keeps a watchful eye on the eggs whenever the mama mallard feels a need to fly away.

The mother sometimes wings across 4th Street, over the fountains between the Criminal Courts Building and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, across 3rd Street, then to the pond at Marshall Park. But not before covering her eggs with warm duck down.

The incubation period for North American mallard duck eggs is 23 to 29 days, said David Elliott, a veterinarian at the Huntersville Animal Care Hospital.

Said Hucks: ``What in the world am I going to do when they hatch?''

He will soon find himself in the same predicament as the police officer in Robert McCloskey's classic children's book, ``Make Way For Ducklings.''

In the book, Officer Michael befriends a family of mallard ducks. One day Michael has to halt Boston motorists as ``Mrs. Mallard'' and her eight ducklings make their way to the pond at the city's public garden.

``I'm going to need some help,'' said Hucks. ``She's got to take them across 4th and across 3rd to get them to the lake. I'm afraid for them with all the traffic. . . . I've got sort of attached.''