There are so many great rivalries in Minnesota. The Cleveland Indians and the Twins, Vikings and Packers, Wild and Blackhawks, and the Loon and Duck. Now, everyone thinks that Loons and Ducks hate each other, that's not the case here! According to Kare 11, a pair of loons on a lake in northern Wisconsin adopted a duckling that became separated from its mother.
Loon researcher Walter Piper says, "it's mind-boggling. It's never happened before." Piper and his research team, which is called The Loon Project have watched the duckling ride the backs of its adopted loon parents, just like baby loons do. A naturalist and nature photographer named Linda Grenzer told Kare 11, “I have never, ever seen a loon have a duckling on its back, never in my entire life that I have watched loons.” However, the story has more of a twist as egg fragments were found in the loons’ nest, which suggests the pair successfully hatched a chick of its own. Piper thinks it was killed by a predator and that, within hours, the loon parents crossed paths with the wayward duckling.
Researchers have been keeping an eye on the loon parents and duckling since June. Grenzer recently has taken video of the young duck diving, and staying under water for a full ten seconds! Also, an intern on Piper's team got a photo of a loon feeding fish to the young duck. You can see the photos HERE! If these two rivals can make it work, can Vikings and Packers fans make it work?