Duck lays eggs at grocery store

A duck named Lucy has chosen an unusual spot to make her nest, at the Charlottetown Superstore Garden Centre in a bed of lavender.

"It must be very soothing in the Spanish lavender, it smells great," said Heather Campbell, an employee at the Garden Centre.

It makes for a soft nest, but not a typical one. Surrounded by plants and people, Lucy's nest sits essentially in the middle of a parking lot.

"Where Lucy is located is a great spot, she's sort of hidden from the public, which is nice because we don't want encourage people come in, and to feed her and all that, because we really don't want her to hang around, she is wild animal, It's not safe for her," said Terry Kyle, the Superstore's manager.

"There's a lot of traffic in parking lot. We want to make sure she's protected," said Kyle. "Where she is — unless you were looking for her, you wouldn't even know she was there."

Campbell said a lot of people have heard about Lucy, and some shoppers accidentally find her while perusing the flower beds.

Lucy is keeping her six eggs warm, which are due to hatch any day now.

If Lucy doesn't move her ducklings soon after they hatch, wildlife officials say they will relocate them to a pond or marsh nearby.

They won't be able to fly for a couple of months, so Lucy will have to walk them to water.

"That's part of arduous aspect because it's a string of ducks, She will try to protect, anything that comes after her or after the chicks," said Dan McAskill, the senior manager from the Forests, Fish and Wildlife division for the province.

"She's still going to have to walk through all the traffic and everything else between there and a pond," said McAskill.

Until that happens, staff at the garden centre continue to supply Lucy with all the cracked corn and water she needs, and make sure the curious don't disturb her.

"I'm just glad she picked our little spot, to lay her eggs, we'll do whatever necessary to protect her, for sure," said Kyle.