A common experience living on campus is encountering animals in their natural habitat. If you go for a run, you’ll have to be sure to weave in and out of a family of ducklings, avoid stepping on the tiny lizards or stop to pet an adorable cat.
These interactions add so much to the UM experience because these animals are residents just like anyone else living on campus. As students and faculty, we should be respecting their homes.
Instead, we’re met with a campus duck, who once went viral for its friendliness caught in a disturbing moment just days later. A video went viral showing an unidentified individual kicking the duck and a separate photo of another individual grabbing the duck by the wings.
This event sparked outrage among students, who on social media had named this particularly friendly duck ‘Ivan.’ Assuming that the duck was dead in the photo, many posted on social media demanding justice for the duck. Someone even made a shirt of Ivan for students to purchase.
Organizations such as UPurr care for these animals on campus. Back in 2023, they led an investigation after multiple cats were found dead or injured. But there’s only so much that students can do to uphold the standard to respect nature around them.
However not all students find the ducks to be so friendly and kind like Ivan. Many ducks tend to be aggressive, especially around their ducklings. One too many times have I seen a duck chase a student down the street. I do understand an irrational fear that one might clock you in the head one day (which has happened to me before).
What many don’t realize is this is their home too. Students may live in the residential colleges, but all the ducks, cats, lizards and iguanas are our next door neighbors.
It is up to us to remind all staff and students that they can simply walk away from a situation invoking violence with an animal or call services if they see an injured one.