The highlight of my day here on the UW-Eau Claire campus is when I get my lunch. My daily veggie roll from Sushi Do, however, is not the reason why enjoy lunchtime. You see, lunch is the only time during my day that I can venture to the Davies Student Center and see the real mascots of UW-Eau Claire: the ducks.

I have been talking to everyone I can about how excited I am to see the ducks. Naturally, the next step is to write about my love for the ducks.

I know that I am not the only one who feels this way. The ducks have made so many appearances on Snapchat and Instagram stories. They have their own fanbase. I remember attending my brother’s graduation from UW-Eau Claire in 2008 — before Davies was what it is today — and I remember looking at the ducks and loving them. There is a photo  of myself, my younger sister and our older brother in cap and gown standing on the bridge and looking at the ducks. I have loved these ducks for over 10 years.

Now, I get that I haven’t loved the same ducks, as there are factors such as their lifespan, migration and so on. I am talking about the ducks in a broader sense. I am talking about “the ducks” as an entity, though I think that each individual duck does bring something special to the table.

The Davies ducks bring joy to students throughout their otherwise arduous and bleak days. There have been many days where I have stopped and watched the ducks and I sure as heck have taken a number of snaps of the ducks, which seems to be a normal thing for most students here. The ducks embody what is good on this campus, and, dare I say, this world.

Now, I’m not throwing any shade at The Blugold. In fact, I thoroughly enjoy the history behind our mascot. But, there is something that the ducks have that Blu doesn’t. I’m not sure what it is. Perhaps it’s that ducks are an actual species of bird. Maybe they’re just more approachable. I don’t know.

What I do know, though, is that the ducks still don’t get as much recognition as they deserve. They brighten our days, and I want to brighten theirs. There are many ways you can brighten someone’s day, but our schema for “brightening someone’s day” generally includes things like writing a nice note, sending flowers or having a singing telegram serenade them at work. Now, none of these will work, as birds have no capacity to appreciate Hallmark cards, floral arrangements or awkward situations created by a singing telegram showing up during a business meeting.

What ducks can appreciate, though, are some duck-safe snacks. These include, but are not limited to, corn, frozen peas, halved grapes and small pieces of lettuce. What you should not give ducks, however is bread. Ducks, like myself, are unable to digest bread, and it could make them quite sick. Making ducks sick doesn’t show your appreciation toward them, so don’t do that.

In summary, I love the Davies ducks and they need to be appreciated for all they do for us weary souls. In fact, I think they should be our new mascot.

Kelley can be reached at [email protected].