Love a duck: Lucy's back — and she has a boyfriend

For the eighth straight year, Lucy the Duck has returned to the Superstore Garden Centre in Charlottetown.

And why wouldn't she?

She has her own taped off section in the perennials where she can nest. She has puddles in the parking lot to bathe in. She has staff and customers feeding her all the blueberries and bananas she can eat.

And when her eggs hatch and it's time to uproot the family, Charlottetown police stop traffic so they can waddle across the road.

• Lucy the Duck's new family escorted back to P.E.I. marsh
• Mama duck Lucy is a P.E.I. garden centre celebrity

This is no lame duck.

In fact, Lucy is such a celebrity she even has her own Facebook page.

Every morning him and her, there's a male, and they walk the parking lot.- Shelley Doyle

So Shelley Doyle, who looks after Lucy at the garden centre, knew it was only a matter of time before male ducks would come calling.

"Every morning him and her, there's a male, and they walk the parking lot," Doyle said. "We call him Lucifer."

Lucifer spends much of his time in the McDonalds parking lot just down the street, Doyle said. And while he's fervently snatching fries off the pavement, Lucy returns to the serenity of the garden where customers fawn over her, take pictures and drop off food.

"It's great to have people come in and visit," Doyle said. "It's a closeup encounter with a duck. A lot of people don't get that. You can see it at a park but not when it's sitting down and not moving."

Doyle said looking after Lucy is "like a little babysitting job but we like it."

"We talk to her everyday," she said. "We ask her what her plans are for the day, if she's going to be nice to the customers, and asking where her boyfriend is, of course."

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | Province aims to keep traffic flowing through Cornwall bypass construction
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | New ferries, new operators, part of proposed revamp of Maritime ferries