There91Ƶs a well-documented business rule that suggests you should never hire your friends as employees.
Your pets? That91Ƶs another story.
Courtenay entrepreneur Cameron Ezzy has started his own pest control business, with some rather quacky employees: his pet ducks.
Slugs n91Ƶ Bugs For Lunch is a new pest control business in the Comox Valley, and the employees have quite an appetite for their work.
Ezzy said the transition from duck owner to business owner came about naturally, and nearly instantly.
91ƵMy landlady said I could get ducks so I got the ducks,91Ƶ he explained. 91ƵI knew there was a slug problem in the area that I lived, and I my landlady was the one who said 91Ƶyou know, ducks are really good at eating slugs91Ƶ and that was it. So I didn91Ƶt buy the ducks specifically for the business, but once I saw this, the business idea came to me immediately.91Ƶ
Ezzy brings the ducks to a residence, and from there, his fine-feathered employees do the rest.
He currently has four employees - Rosie, Aretha Franklin, Willow, and Jaco the lone drake (named after legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius), - and is hopeful some offspring will add to his empire in time.
91ƵI am looking to build my flock up to a dozen,91Ƶ he said. 91ƵRosie 91Ƶ who is named after my mom 91Ƶ has been laying eggs and I haven91Ƶt been touching them, so I am hoping she is going to sit on those eggs very shortly, and hatch them.91Ƶ
Ezzy said although he has had his ducks for nearly a year, he91Ƶs still learning the ins and outs of being a 91Ƶduck master.91Ƶ
91ƵI am a first-time duck owner, so I am learning as I go. I am not an authority on the industry. But I do know one thing; this makes people smile, and that the most satisfying thing,91Ƶ he said. 91ƵThe environmental part of it - pest control without chemicals - is really good, but the best part of it is how you feel and how you smile by just watching the ducks. It91Ƶs all about them.
91ƵThis is my way of doing an environmentally friendly job, giving people a reason to smile, and hopefully teaching kids that there are alternatives.91Ƶ
His Facebook page is Slugnsnbugs For Lunch and he can also be found on Instagram at @slugsnbugscanada
terry.farrell@blackpress.ca
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