Friday, July 11, 2025

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STONE HARBOR –– The Peabody Ducks will celebrate their 75th anniversary at the Wetlands Institute’s 26th annual Wings ‘n Water Festival Sept. 20 and 21.
The ducks made an appearance at Stone Harbor Elementary School Friday, Sept. 19, for students from kindergarten through eighth grade to greet the four fowl hens and one green-headed white-collared drake and learn about the North American Mallard family from the Peabody’s “Duckmaster” Jason Sensat.
Sensat explained how the famous Peabody Ducks, of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tenn., started as a practical joke on part of the hotel’s former general manager in 1933.
As the story goes, when live-duck decoys were legal, the general manager brought a few ducks back to the hotel after an unsuccessful day of hunting and decided to leave the ducks in the hotel fountain to see how people would react.
The next morning, hotel guests surrounded the fountain and watched the ducks with amusement and, Sensat said, the ducks have since been an attraction at the hotel.
The Peabody Ducks are now ambassadors for wildfowl conservation and preservation and in addition to marching twice a day at the hotel they stand as the mascot for the Federal Duck Stamp Program to benefit conservation.
“We’re happy to help the Wetlands Institute to protect wild animals in need and show our support for their efforts in conservation and research,” Sensat said.
The ducks will be at the Wetland’s Institute Saturday, Sept. 20 from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Contact Truluck at (609) 886-8600 ext. 24 or at: ltruluck @cmcherald.com.