Linda, my tootsies are cold – do they make boots for ducks? #Wordless Wednesday #Mallard Duck

Posted on March 11, 2026 by Linda Schaub

Wordless Wednesday – allow your photo(s) to tell the story.

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About Linda Schaub

This is my first blog and I enjoy writing each post immensely. I started a walking regimen in 2011 and in 2013 I decided to create a blog as a means of memorializing the people, places and things seen on my daily walks. I have always enjoyed people watching, so my blog is peppered with folks I meet or reflections of characters I have known through the years. Often something piques my interest, or evokes a pleasant memory from my memory bank, so this becomes a “slice o’ life” blog post. I respect and appreciate nature and my interactions with Mother Nature’s gifts is also a common theme. Sometimes the most-ordinary items become fodder for points to ponder over and touch upon. I retired in March 2024 after a career in the legal field. I was a legal secretary for almost 45 years, primarily working in downtown Detroit, then working from my home. I graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in Mass Communications (print journalism) in 1978, though I’ve never worked in that field. I would like to think this blog is the writer in me finally emerging!! Walking and writing have met, shaken hands and the creative juices are flowing in Walkin’, Writin’, Wit & Whimsy. I hope you think so too. - Linda Schaub
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34 Responses to Linda, my tootsies are cold – do they make boots for ducks? #Wordless Wednesday #Mallard Duck

  1. J P's avatar J P says:
    March 11, 2026 at 7:28 am

    Absolutely – have you not heard of duck boots? 😁

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub's avatar Linda Schaub says:
      March 11, 2026 at 6:56 pm

      Ah, duck boots to protect those neon-colored feet in the snow and probably found on Amazon! If you think that ducks waddle now, imagine a combo shuffle-waddle when they walk in duck boots. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Prior...'s avatar Prior... says:
    March 11, 2026 at 8:21 am

    If they make boots for doggies – I bet they do have some custom option for ducks!

    and I like the lines in the photo – the large water vs snow – the blue patch on feathers and the beak stripe all work with the feather designs to make a great choice for a single WW image.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Kate Crimmins's avatar Kate Crimmins says:
    March 11, 2026 at 8:43 am

    Those orange things aren’t boots? Wow! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub's avatar Linda Schaub says:
      March 11, 2026 at 7:28 pm

      I wonder if it would be as difficult to put boots on a duck’s feet as trying to put boots on a cat’s feet? Not gonna happen I guess. Many years ago my aunt bought a Santa Claus outfit for her dog. He tolerated the Santa cap, coat, black belt, but drew the line at putting on the black plastic boots. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      • Kate Crimmins's avatar Kate Crimmins says:
        March 12, 2026 at 8:03 am

        I don’t think any creatures except humans, like stuff on their feet. I would expect it feels like it would impede their getaway in case of danger.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub's avatar Linda Schaub says:
        March 12, 2026 at 8:32 pm

        That does make sense why animals don’t like anything on their feet – no quick getaway. I wish I could find the photo and I know it is somewhere. I looked through all the images of what I scanned in when I spent Thanksgiving weekend 2017 scanning in most of the photos, but a lot of the pictures are still raw images (sometimes four or six photos on a page, depending on what type of album they were in). He’s got such a woeful look.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Debbie D.'s avatar Debbie D. says:
    March 11, 2026 at 12:10 pm

    Duck boots – great concept! 🙂 And she (I’m guessing it’s a female) does look cold. That’s a fantastic photo, Linda, with the contrast between the water and snow, as well as the facial expression! 👌

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub's avatar Linda Schaub says:
      March 11, 2026 at 7:39 pm

      Thanks Debbie! Someone should invent them for ducks – I’m sure they would be appreciated. Ducks don’t hold their feet in the air like geese do which is kind of strange. Yes, it is a female Mallard with her blue speculum feather, which the male Mallards also have in the same place, giving her that little pop of color in her brown feathers! The Creek was flowing in that area for some reason, even though most of the rest of the Creek was still frozen over. This was on February 14th before our warm spell, so we still had a lot of snow.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. trumstravels's avatar trumstravels says:
    March 11, 2026 at 2:49 pm

    I’ve often wondered if their feet get cold !

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub's avatar Linda Schaub says:
      March 11, 2026 at 7:40 pm

      Yes, they must be cold standing in the snow or on the ice as they have no insulation in their feet, but I never see them standing on one foot like the geese do – maybe they are not as agile as the geese!

      Liked by 1 person

      • trumstravels's avatar trumstravels says:
        March 12, 2026 at 3:54 pm

        I have seen the odd duck with one leg tucked up but you’re right, it’s not very often and maybe they aren’t as agile

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub's avatar Linda Schaub says:
        March 12, 2026 at 8:59 pm

        That’s interesting Susan – I’ll have to start paying attention to them doing that. Maybe as they are more compact and squat they can’t balance. I was at Elizabeth Park last year and there was a goose with some type of balance issue. It kept tipping over to one side, but did not have a broken wing that might have made it keel over. It was struggling and I called the Trenton police that are nearby and they said several people called and they were going to send an animal control officer there. I felt so sorry for it.

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Terri Webster Schrandt's avatar Terri Webster Schrandt says:
    March 11, 2026 at 5:18 pm

    Too cute, Linda! She must like that snow on her tootsie!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub's avatar Linda Schaub says:
      March 11, 2026 at 7:42 pm

      Thanks Terri! Yes, she mustn’t mind as she was there the whole time I was taking pictures of the other ducks and those geese on one foot that were standing on the ice or paddling around the Creek. Some of the Creek was still frozen over at the time.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Barbara Rodgers's avatar Barbara Rodgers says:
    March 12, 2026 at 7:16 am

    She’s so pretty but to me she doesn’t look like she’s feeling the cold. And you have to love those cute little toenails!
    I found this online: “Ducks keep their feet from freezing by using a specialized countercurrent heat exchange system in their legs, which cools blood before it reaches their feet and warms it before it returns to their body.”
    Looks like her ‘countercurrent heat exchange system’ is working well!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub's avatar Linda Schaub says:
      March 12, 2026 at 8:16 pm

      Yes, this duck looks pretty perky to me too. Those cute little toenails really show up in the snow. That was interesting Barbara. Thank you for sharing it. When I got to Council Point Park more often in the Winter, I’d see the ducks lined up on the ice and always felt sorry for them and all the time they were in better shape than I thought.

      Liked by 1 person

  9. dawnkinster's avatar dawnkinster says:
    March 12, 2026 at 11:24 am

    I worry about all my birds’ feet in the winter. Especially after they take a bath in my heated bath. A couple days ago I took Pen to a park and there was a pair of mallard ducks swimming in the little stream. They were both bopping their heads up and down and then they dived under the water. I’ve never seen mallards dive before. It was quite interesting. Penny found it boring. Thank goodness.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub's avatar Linda Schaub says:
      March 12, 2026 at 8:54 pm

      Dawn, I always think they’ll get frostbite on their feet if they are wet. I see ducks diving sometimes for plants underwater, but I see swans and geese do that more often. Yes, good thing Penny wasn’t interested in the ducks, in case she took a notion to jump in with them and take you with her. 🙂

      Like

  10. Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog's avatar Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog says:
    March 13, 2026 at 2:55 am

    Quite a beautiful Mallard, Linda! And today is supposed to have winds at 55 miles per hour. Ducks and people will all have to be extremely careful. The environment is getting crazier… and a lot of crazy people don’t even fully realize it.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub's avatar Linda Schaub says:
      March 13, 2026 at 7:43 pm

      I agree with you Tom – he is beautiful with the snow and water surrounding him. I like those neon-orange feet. 🙂 The weather gets scarier by the day. I just got online a short time ago because the winds have been gusting mightily all day (since 5:00 a.m.) and the high wind warning was projected to be over by 10:00 p.m. – no way as it will still be high gusts (50+) past midnight. At one point Detroit Metro Airport had a gust of 71 mph and the City of Detroit had wind clocked at 66 mph. We had severe weather on Tuesday night, the same day you did – I stayed up until 4:00 a.m. Wednesday as they predicted tornadic conditions and it ended up fizzling out and was just a severe thunderstorm but I had watched tornadoes in Kankakee (with 8-inch hail) and tornadoes in Indiana throughout the evening and I thought “I have to up and alert” (even though I have a Midland weather radio). I am very uneasy about this Summer as they are predicting such hot weather, worse than last year, which you know will cause severe weather like crazy.

      Like

  11. brilliantviewpoint's avatar brilliantviewpoint says:
    March 13, 2026 at 11:24 am

    An adorable photo, so perfect!!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Stevens's avatar Stevens says:
    March 13, 2026 at 9:12 pm

    Miss Linda………………………………….Ha Ha………………he already has a pair of big orange galoshes on his feet!

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Pepper's avatar Pepper says:
    March 14, 2026 at 6:20 am

    Linda, you captured the details and colors in the feathers beautifully. 😊

    Liked by 1 person

  14. indianeskitchen's avatar indianeskitchen says:
    March 24, 2026 at 8:14 pm

    I wonder if her feet can get frost bite? I think she’s getting ready to make a snow duck or snow duck angel! Lol

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub's avatar Linda Schaub says:
      March 24, 2026 at 8:17 pm

      Diane, I know they are supposed to be able to withstand the cold temperatures, but I sure don’t know how they do it to be honest. Yes, I can see that … I think ducks like posing because unlike squirrels I didn’t have corn or another treat for them.

      Like

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