THERE is something mysterious afoot. Webbed foot, actually.

Mid-April, people began to notice the ducks were missing from Queen's Park. There had been ducks to shake a stick at and, suddenly, there were very few feathered friends to be found.

It was, admittedly, quite a stark change. The water was still and the air was silent. The ducks were more noticeable by their absence than they ever had been when they were just part of the familiar furniture.

"Where have they gone?" people asked.

Ask yourself that question. What might the answer be?

Are you thinking, "They flew away?" How about they migrated? What about a jaunt over to nearby Pollok Park to see if the duck population there has rapidly increased?

These are all reasonable suggestions.

There is another suggestion. That the Roma took them. Oh, and ate them.

Now, what's your reaction to that suggestion?

Nearby Govanhill has a large Roma population. That is well-documented, as is the tensions it creates in the local community.

You might think that to suggest an ethnic minority has stolen and eaten dozens of wild ducks from a city park is a bit far-fetched.

You might even think it is a bit offensive.

But people are very quick to believe this rumour - and it is a rumour until there are facts to back it up - without question.

It's an emotive issue.

The loss of the ducks is being taken very seriously. "Poor feather babies," wrote one woman on Facebook. "RIP."

The ducks mean something to people who use the park. Children feed them, they are part of the scenery.

They're pretty tame, the ducks. They sit in the evenings on the edge of the pond and don't flinch if you get too close to them.

Even as I run past them - and I am not light of foot - they don't ruffle a single feather.

I can't imagine it would be too tricky to snatch one.

Snatching isn't the allegation, though. People have all sorts of theories as to how the ducks were taken.

String with hooks on the end, in the manner of a fun fair attraction.

Since this story emerged in early April I have been trying to get to the bottom of it.

A local group insisted two arrests had been made and two men charged, which served to cement what people already thought they knew.

I have spoken to the Police Scotland press office enough times now to be classed a nuisance. Ditto the Glasgow City Council press office.

The police press officer has checked and double checked the records back to the beginning of April but finds nothing about ducks or Queen's Park.

The sergeants at the two local police stations know nothing about duck-related arrests.

Land and Environmental Services, which runs the park, does not know anything about arrests or about the missing ducks. They're wild, and no records of their movement is kept.

I spoke to a bird expert. "What's more likely?", I asked, "The birds flew away or the birds were stolen and eaten?"

"Well," he said. "There are many reasons the birds might not be there any more.

"It could just be they've found somewhere where people are feeding them Waitrose bread rather than Sainsburys."

I appealed on Facebook for any eyewitnesses to come forward.

Within minutes I have a message from a chap who saw the ducks being taken, he claimed, while out walking his dog.

Excellent, this is exactly what I need. I ask him for more details. He asks me for money. Ah.

No one else comes forward.

I called a Roma contact to ask their thoughts. This was more awkward. To dance around the topic, delicately, or go for it and be damned?

I went for it.

"Do you catch and eat ducks? You know, the Roma. As a people. Do you catch and eat ducks?"

"No." Right.

So here we are, no further forward. The ducks are returning though. There were about 40 last week in the big pond and a few in the small pond.

At this point, there is no evidence either way as to what happened to the birds.

What should give pause for thought, is how quickly people are ready to believe a story without anything to back it up.

Some of the comments online, which I won't repeat, have been nothing short of appalling.

There is an issue with integration in Govanhill, that much is undeniable. For change to happen there has to be willing on both sides.

And willing is not perpetuating thoughtless rumours started by people who couldn't give a flying duck about the consequences.