CandaceM23
August-8th-2007, 03:47 PM
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=600&sid=1212860
CULPEPER, Va. (AP) - Winfrey Gore stops as he walks down two of the long rows in his Culpeper County garden.
"Come on, Jake," the 71-year-old retired Safeway worker calls to his friend. Jake, however, is in no hurry. The noonday sun is hot, and he has just finished drying off after a swim in the creek. Besides, he has his mind on something else.
Suddenly, a grasshopper leaps out from a clump of grass Jake has been eyeballing and glides toward a cantaloupe vine. But before he can reach it, Jake plucks him out of midair.
"That'll teach that critter to invade my garden," Jake seems to say as he gulps down the insect.
"Come on, Jake," Gore repeats in a soft, grandfatherly voice.
Now satisfied that his domain is secure, Jake obeys and waddles down the row behind Gore.
Jake, the gardener, is a duck.
For two summers now, the Mallard-domestic duck cross has been accompanying Gore to his garden, four miles from the truck farmer's Brightwood home, several times each week. Jake sits in a wooden apple crate on the front seat of Gore's old farm pickup and rides down U.S. 29, watching traffic much as a dog might.
"He likes to ride," Gore says.
Most of the time, Jake sits quietly. But on one or two occasions, Gore admits, the duck has become excited at something outside and has tried to climb out the window.
"Once he almost caused me to wreck," the truck patch farmer says with a smile. "I had to stop and calm him down."
Once at the farm, Gore is ready to go to work. Jake, on the other hand, has different priorities, and he heads straight for the creek the moment the truck door opens.
There, in a hole Gore has dug to collect irrigation water, Jake frolics and bathes for maybe half an hour before heading to the garden.
"The first thing he does is dive under that water, get wet all over," Gore says. "Then he cleans himself."
Only when he is finished bathing, does Jake make his way into the garden, where he spends his time hunting slugs, crickets and other pests.
"He is tough on slugs," Gore says. "He gets every one that comes along."
Gore got Jake two years ago from an Alexandria family who had a weekend home at Lake Anna in Louisa County.
"Their children incubated an egg they found near the lake and hatched Jake," says Gore.
For four years, the duck lived with the Alexandria family, making trips to Lake Anna with his adopted relatives on weekends.
"I was told that in Alexandria, Jake lived in a pen with two big dogs," Gore says.
Even today, Jake loves to play with canines, especially Gore's daughter's cockapoo.
"He wears that dog out," Gore laughs.
While Jake gets along famously with dogs and people, he's a real misfit when it comes to other ducks.
"I've got two other domestic ducks, and they chase him around terribly," he says. "They're jealous of Jake."
And they have good reason to be. After all, all summer long, it is Jake who gets to ride down the highway to the old swimming hole. But the favoritism doesn't end there.
"On cold days in the winter, I'll build a fire in an old shed at home, and Jake will come and sit in my lap for hours," says Gore, who adds, "He loves to have his belly rubbed."
Jake also likes to nibble at women's toes.
"When a woman comes around barefooted or wearing sandals, Jake goes right after those toes," Gore says. "My wife will run like crazy when she sees him coming."
Jake has another bad habit.
"I think the family that had him before me must have let Jake come in the house," Gore says. "You open that door and he's in your kitchen."
Even his parentage is questionable.
His white wing feathers make it clear that one of his parents was a barnyard duck (like domestic ducks, he can't fly), while the green on his head indicates that there is a little wildness in his background.
Maybe that wild streak is the reason he likes women's toes.
No one in Brightwood cares much about Jake's background or his peculiarities. In this part of the country, he is a celebrity of sorts. And that celebrity status is heading for new heights.
"My grandchildren have already entered Jake in next year's Memorial Day parade in Fairfax," says Gore. "He might ride on a float with me or I might put a harness on him and we'll walk."
Gore even has visions of seeing Jake sitting next to Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show."
"It could happen," he says.
CULPEPER, Va. (AP) - Winfrey Gore stops as he walks down two of the long rows in his Culpeper County garden.
"Come on, Jake," the 71-year-old retired Safeway worker calls to his friend. Jake, however, is in no hurry. The noonday sun is hot, and he has just finished drying off after a swim in the creek. Besides, he has his mind on something else.
Suddenly, a grasshopper leaps out from a clump of grass Jake has been eyeballing and glides toward a cantaloupe vine. But before he can reach it, Jake plucks him out of midair.
"That'll teach that critter to invade my garden," Jake seems to say as he gulps down the insect.
"Come on, Jake," Gore repeats in a soft, grandfatherly voice.
Now satisfied that his domain is secure, Jake obeys and waddles down the row behind Gore.
Jake, the gardener, is a duck.
For two summers now, the Mallard-domestic duck cross has been accompanying Gore to his garden, four miles from the truck farmer's Brightwood home, several times each week. Jake sits in a wooden apple crate on the front seat of Gore's old farm pickup and rides down U.S. 29, watching traffic much as a dog might.
"He likes to ride," Gore says.
Most of the time, Jake sits quietly. But on one or two occasions, Gore admits, the duck has become excited at something outside and has tried to climb out the window.
"Once he almost caused me to wreck," the truck patch farmer says with a smile. "I had to stop and calm him down."
Once at the farm, Gore is ready to go to work. Jake, on the other hand, has different priorities, and he heads straight for the creek the moment the truck door opens.
There, in a hole Gore has dug to collect irrigation water, Jake frolics and bathes for maybe half an hour before heading to the garden.
"The first thing he does is dive under that water, get wet all over," Gore says. "Then he cleans himself."
Only when he is finished bathing, does Jake make his way into the garden, where he spends his time hunting slugs, crickets and other pests.
"He is tough on slugs," Gore says. "He gets every one that comes along."
Gore got Jake two years ago from an Alexandria family who had a weekend home at Lake Anna in Louisa County.
"Their children incubated an egg they found near the lake and hatched Jake," says Gore.
For four years, the duck lived with the Alexandria family, making trips to Lake Anna with his adopted relatives on weekends.
"I was told that in Alexandria, Jake lived in a pen with two big dogs," Gore says.
Even today, Jake loves to play with canines, especially Gore's daughter's cockapoo.
"He wears that dog out," Gore laughs.
While Jake gets along famously with dogs and people, he's a real misfit when it comes to other ducks.
"I've got two other domestic ducks, and they chase him around terribly," he says. "They're jealous of Jake."
And they have good reason to be. After all, all summer long, it is Jake who gets to ride down the highway to the old swimming hole. But the favoritism doesn't end there.
"On cold days in the winter, I'll build a fire in an old shed at home, and Jake will come and sit in my lap for hours," says Gore, who adds, "He loves to have his belly rubbed."
Jake also likes to nibble at women's toes.
"When a woman comes around barefooted or wearing sandals, Jake goes right after those toes," Gore says. "My wife will run like crazy when she sees him coming."
Jake has another bad habit.
"I think the family that had him before me must have let Jake come in the house," Gore says. "You open that door and he's in your kitchen."
Even his parentage is questionable.
His white wing feathers make it clear that one of his parents was a barnyard duck (like domestic ducks, he can't fly), while the green on his head indicates that there is a little wildness in his background.
Maybe that wild streak is the reason he likes women's toes.
No one in Brightwood cares much about Jake's background or his peculiarities. In this part of the country, he is a celebrity of sorts. And that celebrity status is heading for new heights.
"My grandchildren have already entered Jake in next year's Memorial Day parade in Fairfax," says Gore. "He might ride on a float with me or I might put a harness on him and we'll walk."
Gore even has visions of seeing Jake sitting next to Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show."
"It could happen," he says.