Nibbling a duck to death

Since Easter I have been watching Darby slowly but surely nibble away at this little duck.  First he lost his topknot, now most of one wing and a good part of the other.

She doesn't nibble on it every day,

but when she does, she gets in real close like this:

 and nibbles away, very quietly, with just the very tips of her front teeth.  Her nose is usually wrinkled like that.

The duck is slowly disappearing. 

Each time I see her doing it, I have that nagging feeling of a thought trying to form but not quite being able to take shape.

Then this morning, out of the blue, the vague thought formed and I knew what I was trying to remember:

This quote attributed to the late Eric Sevareid:  "Dealing with network executives is like being nibbled to death by ducks.”