By Jim McCoy

It was Fourth of July weekend in 2017. Larry and Tina Merritt – who lived in Manassas at the time – were at their second home at Lake Anna when one of their sons, Jason, noticed a tiny yellow duckling floating on its side in the lake. Although Jason assumed the duckling was dead, he still retrieved it from the water. To his surprise, the duckling was still alive.

The young duck appeared to be less than a week old. According to Merritt, “It was smaller than a baseball. The first thing we noticed was that one of its little legs was all torn up, and we figured that it was probably hit by a turtle or a bass.“ Larry carefully gathered up the duckling and tried to figure out what to do next.

He started by splinting the tiny leg with popsicle sticks and medical tape. He then stayed up all night to nurse the duckling by feeding it flies and dripping bottled water into its mouth with a dropper. ‘Honestly? I thought she was going to die.” Merritt adds. The family’s plan was to try to help heal the leg and then return the duckling to the water with its friends. The splints seemed to work for a few weeks until Anna Quacker – as the duckling had been named – stepped off the Merritt’s patio and re-broke the leg.
Not one to duck responsibility, the Merritts decided to take her to the veterinarian. The veterinarian performed surgery – at a cost of $3,600 – to save the leg and then sent Anna home to recuperate. Larry added, “They put in pins and rods…the whole works!” The veterinarian assured them that there was a 99% chance that the leg surgery would work. Twelve weeks later, the cast, pins and rods were all removed.
At that point, the Merritts started two months of home based physical therapy with Anna which included sessions of bending and stretching the leg twice a day. After a few months, it appeared that Anna was ready to go back into the water.

In February of the next year, Anna Quacker was on the water when she noticed Larry outside talking to a neighbor. She excitedly flew out of the lake to go see him. Larry noted, “By then, she just thought I was her daddy!” However, that’s when disaster struck. As Anna landed, she broke her leg again.

The Merritts took Anna back to the veterinarian where they ended up doing a complete second surgery. Unfortunately, this surgery did not work and the vet had to amputate the leg. This all brought the total amount spent on Anna to $7,000. After the surgery, Anna Quacker went home as a one-legged duck.
Since the Merritts were still living in Manassas, Larry would make the trip with Anna Quacker twice a week to Lake Anna. Larry says, “It would be me, Anna Quacker and my two huskies rolling down the highway in my truck. When we would stop at a gas station, people would look in my truck because of the huskies, and then Anna would start quacking. That really caught them off guard!”

Somehow Anna Quacker knew when they would get close to the subdivision. Larry notes, “I don’t know if she could smell the lake, or sense it or whatever, but as soon as we would turn into the neighborhood, she would start quacking as loud as she could.” He adds, “Without a doubt, she knew she was close to the water. I thought that was pretty cool.”

For the next four years, Larry went back-and-forth between Manassas and Lake Anna twice a week. When he retired, two years ago, Larry and Tina – along with Anna Quacker – moved to Lake Anna full-time.

Now that the Merritts live full-time at the lake, Larry takes Anna Quacker out three times a day to go out on the water. “She swims really well. You would not know that she only has one leg. The problem is that and she can’t really get out of the water on her own and she can’t really get around on land either.” As such, Merritt has to stay close while Anna is out for her daily swims. Merritt says, “I have to keep a close eye on her. An eagle tried to get her twice and I had to shoo him off both times.” Sometimes Anna will get her one good leg caught in the willow grass or other plant growth on the lake. At that point, Merritt has to go into the water and rescue her. “She knows I’m always going to come save her.” Larry adds. “It’s like having a kid! It’s definitely a labor of love.”

Like a child, it’s pretty expensive to take care of Anna Quacker. She lives in the Merritt’s house in their finished basement along with their two huskies. Larry notes, “I don’t have to tell anyone how messy ducks can be. We spend at least a couple of thousand dollars a year on puppy pads and towels so that Anna can use the restroom while in the house.” Anna’s food adds an extra expense. According to Larry, “We order live crickets through the mail – a thousand at a time. The Mayflies that we get this time of year make a nice treat for her, but her main food is Dumor All Flock Pellets from Tractor Supply.” Anna tried to repay the kindness for the first year as she laid duck eggs for them. However, the eggs stopped after her final surgery.

Fast forward seven years after originally finding Anna and Larry Merritt concludes, “She is just part of the family. We take her on our boat every once in a while for a ride. She just likes being around us.”

Now that is one lucky duck!