The first thing I think of when I hear “eider” is a king eider, which I sense almost has a cult following by some waterfowl hunters and taxidermists. These two groups have devoted followers and collectors of their king eiders, their favorite waterfowl. Eiders are one of a few species of ducks available to North American hunters that I have never hunted or killed. Not because I wouldn’t have loved to have had them in my list of successful hunts, but the latter two-thirds of my lifelong love of pursuing game has been for the hoofed mammals, which I also believe is a sort of cult following. During my observations of both hunters and taxidermists, I have noted that the admirers of the eider genus, especially king eiders, have an obsession that I admire and regret that I was not a part of.
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