Goodbye O’Malley my boy
O’Malley Peepers passed away from old age and lymphoma complications on December 10, 2014 at 9 years, 3 months and 2 days old. He was a wonderful lovable snuggly bitey dinosaur of a duck and I miss him terribly. This is the story of his life.
O’Malley was born on about September 8, 2005 and found alone at a park in Gig Harbor, WA. In his first days of life, he was taken to a wildlife rescue organization called PAWS in Lynnwood, WA where an intake volunteer placed him with all the rescued mallards. The next morning, the staff at PAWS realized he wasn’t a mallard and called me. When I arrived to get him, I reached my hand into the mallard pen and all the baby mallard ducklings ran to the other side, as far away from my hand as they could get. O’Malley ran straight to my hand and sat on it. He was a snuggler from the very first moment we met.
O’Malley came to work with me each day for nearly two months. He seemed a little fragile and I didn’t want to leave him home alone all day while he was a baby duck.
He did really well at the office and got a lot of work done. He was responsible for implementing a “Pet Fridays” policy and also responsible for the company winning an award for “Most pet-friendly workplace in the Northwest.”
When O’Malley was big enough, he joined the other ducks in the yard, though he always remained extremely lovable and snuggly.
He grew so fast and so big that he quickly became the top duck in the yard, and nobody messed with him. He also had a reputation for being a biter, so when the Malley train was coming, everyone got out of his way. Woot woot!
O’Malley liked to snuggle every single day. He would get impatient and cranky if his snuggle time was not a top priority, so I tried to make time for him whenever I could.
If I didn’t make time for him, he would chase me down and bite my ankles until I picked him up and held him. This made it pretty difficult to do chores in the yard like feed the ducks and clean the pools.
But the snuggles made all the bites worthwhile.
There really was no end to the snuggles with O’Malley. And that kept us really close to each other over his 9+ years. To have a duck who chases you down to love you each day is a great gift.
While I miss many things about my boy O’Malley, one of the things I miss the most is his physical presence. The weight of him sitting on my lap and the feel of his head in my hand.
The sound of his huffs and “bup bup bup” and our daily conversations. The smell of his feathers and the warmth of his body. His presence was even larger than his physical self.
He was a giant, sensitive, wonderful personality that I counted on every day. As someone wrote on our Facebook page, “there’s a dinosaur-shaped hole in the universe” now that he’s gone. It’s so true. There’s a hole in my heart now.
O’Malley was loved and adored by me, but also by his girl Petunia. They were a couple for most of his life, even when new girls like Ramona and Lenora came along.
And O’Malley loved Petunia just as much as she loved him. He would sing to her every day.
He was a really good singer and a happy, joyful guy.
We’ve known O’Malley was sick for quite a few months, and he had a large lymphoma tumor removed in May before we left Seattle. So Petunia and Lenora knew he was in decline. I think they knew he was in his last days and they’ve been doing okay since he’s been gone. They stick close to each other for support.
We will remember him for the giant super dinosaur he was. The lovable goof with the giant head crest. The big biter in the yard.
And for me, personally, I will remember him for every snuggle he shared with me. For every time he sat with me and let me hold his head. For every time we chatted and I scratched his chin and pet his face.
There will never be another snugglesaurus like O’Malley Peepers. Rest in peace, giant dinosaur. You were the very best duck. I love you. XOXOX
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