LOS ANGELES -- The mallard named J. D. -- for Just a Duck -- was reunited this week with Richard Brookman, the Colorado carpenter he deserted during a January 1991 outing to a lake.
Duck and man have a foreman at a nearby fencing company to thank for bringing them together.
"I thought I would never see it again," said Mr. Brookman, 54. "All I know is that I picked him up, he put his beak between my arms and my body, and he closed his eyes."
Two weeks ago, foreman Mike Rogers noticed a duck wandering down the road in front of the fencing business, three miles from the lake.
With its green head, white collar and brownish-gray feathers, the duck looked wild, but it didn't even squirm when Mr. Rogers picked it up. He figured the duck was a pet, and ran a classified ad in a "found" column of the local Newhall Signal newspaper.
Mr. Brookman was in the area Sunday visiting his brother when he saw the lost duck notice in an old paper.
Mr. Brookman's son won the duckling five years ago at a county fair in Colorado, and it fast became a pet, swimming about in its own wading pool.
The duck moved with the family to California two years later, but it took off during a January 1991 camping trip at Castaic Lake, about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
"I was carrying him in my arms and he flew away. We searched for hours but we couldn't find it. We decided he felt it was time for him to be free," Mr. Brookman said.
The family reunion will be complete by Christmas when Mr. Brookman heads home to see his wife in Colorado for a holiday visit. His construction work means he moves around a lot and has been living in his truck at a job at Los Angeles International Airport.