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They’re baaaack: the ducks on the Fox lot! After winning over the hearts of News Corp employees last spring, Mama Duck, named Harriet, made a return with a new flock of cute ducklings this year. When I was entering the Fox lot today, the security guard at the gate greeted me with a warning: “Drive carefully, we have ducks!” Indeed, Mom was perched on the pen built for the fowl last year, watching over her 7 napping offspring by the fountain in front of the Fox network building. After calling Animal 
Control last year and being told that the ducks can’t be moved by law, Fox employees took over the bird care. The loss of three ducklings to crows and owls even prompted workers to implement a volunteer guard system of two-hour shifts on weekends when security guards were not around. The weekend shifts now continue, and only one duckling has been lost so far. The ducks have been and still are the biggest celebrities on the lot, with people stopping by to take pictures. They certainly got a lot more attention than Leonardo DiCaprio who was having a quiet lunch at the Fox commissary.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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You buried the lede. Fox personnel preventing local owls from feeding on studio lot.
Smithers I want those ducks for lunch today kill them and cook them for me right now.
Yes Mr. Burns one duck platter coming right up.
Now, that’s what I call a serviceable housekeeping deal.
Loveliest story I’ve read on this site yet. Thank you.
And after they spend two hours guarding the ducks, they probably go grab a chicken sandwich for lunch. Ahh, humanity.
Why is this news? Fox continues to treat a family of ducks better than it treats its employees.
I’m happy to hear the ducks decided to re-up with Fox despite aggressive overtures from Paramount. I need their agent.
saw the ducklings last night — very sweet in the land of sharks they are protected, good on ye Fox.
I work at Fox and am very involved when it comes to our ducks. You have a few facts wrong. We have 3 families with a total of 17 ducklings. Harriet is just one of the 3 moms. We also have Maudine and Bonnie. We’ve lost more than one this year and not to owls and crows but mostly from natural causes. However, our 17 count has been intact for almost a month and our ducklings are getting pretty big and strong.
But you are right- they’ve been photographed more than anyone on the lot and could rival any A-List celebrity in that department.
Thanks for writing a story on our beloved ducks.
Show biz folks have a heart afterall. The ducks don’t get thrown under the bus. Nice post, Nellie!
The Universal lot is home to all sorts of wildlife – ducks, geese, owls and herons are common, the year-round flock of mallards in Park Lake is sizable and the proximity to the “river” gives them an alternative water source. There are also deer, coyotes, raccoons, skunks, rabbits, feral cats, snakes and lizards plus rats and mice for everyone to feed on.
Well I certainly hope that whoever was on “duck duty” when one was snatched or killed has been fired. And did anybody check to make sure he wasn’t having duck dumplings for lunch?
Good grief, you got all your facts wrong. Who did you get your information from?
Maude was the original Mama Duck. Harriet is one of Maude’s babies from last year. No ducklings were ever lost to an owl. Animal Comtrol was never called last year. Security is on lot 24/7 weekends included.