Peck, Peck, Push, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Freedom

The partially opened egg is Angel. I had to pry her out. After 24 hours she needed help. Her beak still bears a battle scar.

Meet Spentie~

My first hatchling, I vowed to name after Speck and Runtie.

Please meet Spentie...

OMG! Peeping and Pecking!

Friday, July 31st, 2009 - the
 eggs are making sounds and pecking.

I can't believe it! Peep, peep! I am thrilled, scared and filled with anticipation! It does take quite a while for those little souls to peck out of those shells. I was working that day. I would run down about every 30-45 minutes and check on their progress.

This is Where The Crazy Duck Lady Comes On Scene

I threw two towels over the eggs in their nest, and started calling every animal control facility I could find. All of them told me the same thing. Put the eggs in the freezer to kill them. It's the only humane thing I could do. They can't survive without their mother. I explained that their gestation period was almost exhausted! We are down to mere days until they will hatch!!! Same reply. WTH?

I found a basket, laid towels in it, scooped up the eggs and layed them gently inside. I got a heating pad, and put the basket on top.

The eggs were warm when I picked them up.

They're alive! :) Then I waited....

July 19th, 2009

A beautiful Sunday morning. I am so excited because I have a veterinarian and his family (my BFF) coming to stay with us before their vacation. (maybe he can teach me something about ducks since he grew up on a farm). I go out back and start cleaning off the patio and the patio table. I noticed that Speck, Runtie's sister who has been on a nest in my yard for 2+ weeks is not on her nest. I kept hosing & looking up and down the canal. No sign of her. I moved to another area of the patio and start seeing feathers, lots of feathers. I follow them and down along the fence is Speck. She had the same fate as Runtie. It's bad. I ran and got my husband. We wrapped her in a towel and buried her next to Runtie. What about the eggs????? :(

April 28, 2009

This particular morning I went out back
and found Miss Runtie dead next to the pool fountain.










To say it was a gruesome death is an understatement.

What could have done such destruction?


I buried Miss Runtie in my side yard and then got on the phone. I called every "animal" entity I could find, even my home owner's association. I kept getting the same reply. "Unless you have an alligator in your yard, and you can see it, we can't help you". WTH?

                         So now I'm ticked....


...And full of vengenance. Dad and I went out and bought a trap. As I said,  I'm a city girl. I have never trapped anything! What in the hell am I doing? The trap box had lots of bait ideas. The first two nites I caught baby possums. I drove them out of the neighborhood and let them go. The third nite....

Check it out!!  A 30 pound Raccoon!!

I threw a blanket over the cage and The Engineer and I put it in the car and we drove it 5 miles away and let it loose. Take that you bugger! (The raccoon ripped the blanket to shreds).

Ducks! 2009~

So life goes on. Mama has a another clutch of eggs.

Out of the 11 - 4 survive. O.P. (short for Oinko Piggo), (whom you meet later),

Speck and Miss Runtie. Here is Runtie and Mama. Note the big Iguana in the back? That's

Iggy.

In The End.........

None of the babies made it. One day, Mama and her last baby came by at 9:00am. She had "Lucky" in tow. I never saw him again....

We Miss You Lucky~  :(

A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words.........

Moving Forward

It seemed each time Mama and babies came by, there was one fewer duckling. They would come by have a bite and move on. Some days were luckier than others...

the count would be the same.