A celebrated Leland tradition continues to make waves and Father’s Day, Sunday, will mark a decade of doing so with the annual Deer Creek Duck Launch.
This year’s launch will commence at 2 p.m. at South Deer Creek Drive West and Sycamore Street.
The 30 white Pekin ducks have been under the care of event organizer Kenner Patton since arriving in the Mississippi Delta from the midwest.
“When I get the ducklings they’re a day old, so, the day they’re hatched they’re shipped here and I take care of them for about six weeks,” Patton said. “They’re little bitty when I get them and I put them in a brooder and raise them up until they are big enough to get around on the ground.”
Next to the chicken pen where the ducks are raised, is another large pen where the ducks can have access to real grass.
By the time the ducks transition from being a day old to six weeks old, Patton said they can eat on their own, swim and chase bugs, but not fly.
Overall, they’ll be in “pretty good” shape by the time they make it to the creek.
“We will have 30 this year because last year we had a lot of ducks that survived over the winter,” Patton noted. “We kind of plan how many ducks we’re going to release based on how many ducks make it through the winter.”
Overseeing such a beloved event is something that Patton enjoys and doesn’t take for granted as he has so many childhood memories of Deer Creek and the habitat it provides for ducks.
“I just turned 59 so I remember as a kid seeing ducks on the creek for a long time. They’ve just really kind of become one of the icons of Leland and I see people stopping and feeding them, taking pictures and families just out there enjoying the afternoon with the ducks,” he highlighted. “It’s really kind of nice to be able to see people engage the creek and engage Leland and have a good time with the ducks because it’s an effort to help support Leland and the community.”
Folks in the Leland community have the opportunity to sponsor a duck for $10 each as in past years either in advance or on the day of the launch.
Those interested in a sponsorship can email the LCOC at lelandcoc@gmail.com for payment instructions or mail their payments.
Checks should be made payable to “Leland Chamber of Commerce.”
History of the Duck Launch
The Duck Launch was started in 2012 as a way to do something about the decreasing duck population in Deer Creek that locals enjoyed admiring for many years.
In 2012, Taylor purchased four large stationary duck-feeders to be placed along Leland’s Deer Creek in hopes the food would help keep the ducks local.
With 2018 being the only exception, folks in Leland have held a duck launch every year since to continue repopulating the ducks.
Natural predators, such as foxes and turtles, cause the duck population to decrease some each year, but another problem is the locals hitting the ducks as they drive along the creek.
While driving along Deer Creek, motorists are encouraged to keep a mindful watch for the ducks because they, too, sometimes like to cross the road.
