|
|
|
Each year, I always find one - an abandoned little duckling that has hatched long after his siblings and his mother have left their nest. Each and every time, no matter how often it happens, I am filled with wonder at this miracle of life. And even though I know the odds are truly stacked against me, I always bring the tiny duckling into my home, clean the little guy up and pray that he or she will make it. Sadly, they never do. They usually survive for a week or two and by then, of course, I’ve fallen in love with them and am devastated. I really do believe that in most cases Mother Nature does know best and that the little ducklings are either too weak or too sick to survive in the wild, but, I can’t just leave them there to die. I feel that I must try to help them and I’m always hoping that one day maybe - just maybe - I will finally meet a little duckling who will beat the odds...
June 20, 2000, the day that I underwent my hand surgery, I came home to the wonderful, uplifting sight of Hope parading her five beautiful little yellow ducklings all over my lawn. I delightedly watched as she introduced these adorable fluffy yellow “golf balls” to my back yard taking them all along the perimeters and then into my "courtyard" where they all had a quick nap underneath Mama. When they awakened, she marched them underneath my deck into an adjacent area which I call my bird sanctuary because I have planted lots of berry producing shrubs and all sorts of special goodies for my wildfriends.
When Hope arrived in the bird sanctuary, her older
sister Margarite was already there with all of her brood. You can just imagine
the utter chaos Two days later, as I looked for Hope and her babies, I passed by her now supposedly empty nest and heard a faint little peeping sound. When I went down to look I saw a little yellow duckling laying in the hot sun, covered in mushy yolk from his egg and, most likely, from the other broken eggs too, looking for all the world like a scrambled egg omelet, not knowing what to do except peep for help. With my one good hand, I picked him up and quickly brought him into the house for a thorough cleaning. He seemed so helpless and so very vulnerable, I really didn’t think he’d survive the night. I put lots of cuddly towels in a little box for him to keep him toasty warm and hoped for the best. I didn’t worry too much about feeding him that first day because I know from past experience that the first day or two of their lives, chicks usually never eat much. I think they get a great deal of nourishment from their egg yolk sac. The next day I made him a concoction I call “duck
soup”. No, it’s not made from ducks or chickens, but from duck pellets which
I mix with water and mash until the whole thing becomes Peeper, as I fittingly called him, was now jumping pretty high and the second night, even though I had covered the top of his “nest” box, he jumped out. In the morning, I found him calmly sitting by his food dish waiting for me to prepare his duck soup. The next night he graduated into my secure duck carrier where there was no escaping. Peeper was happy because he could see out of the mesh wire door and I was happy because I had the security of knowing that he was protected when I wasn’t there to look after him. Peeper now had quite a routine. He either followed me around the house or he took naps with me or he ate. I’d never had a duckling who ate so well. I was really beginning to hope that this little yellow fuzzball would make it. Peeper loved our naps together and they certainly
aided in my recuperation. Every time
After I had him about a week, I realized that unlike most of the other ducklings I had tried to raise, Peeper was actually thriving. I made several attempts to put him back with his mother and his three remaining siblings because I felt that this would be his best chance for survival. His mother always accepted him, but, Peeper didn’t accept her. Each time I tried to leave, he ran back to me, peeping full blast, and wouldn’t let me out of his sight. Of course, I unashamedly loved it! When I did have to go out during the day, I’d leave Peeper in the kitchen. Like a good little duckling, he stayed underneath our cockatiel’s cage and that was where I’d find him when I got home. As he got older, he learned the sound of the front door opening and knew that it meant that I’d come home and he’d race down the foyer to greet me, peeping as loudly as he could.
Peeper truly began to take over our household. He learned the sound of the front doorbell and whenever he heard it ring, he’d run to greet our guests. Peeper even began to learn our daily routine and in the morning, I’d find him ensconced under the kitchen table waiting for us to have our breakfast. After breakfast, he insisted on a play period with my husband. He loved to fight with him, running up to him biting his sneakers or pecking at his pants. Within minutes, they would become involved in a major tug-of-war which Peeper usually won.
I had no fear of losing Peeper, because he was my little shadow, following me everywhere. He was always underfoot and I had to be very careful not to step on him. As Peeper spent more and more time running outside, the neighboring crow family discovered him. As they relentlessly circled overhead looking for a tasty tidbit for their lunch or dinner, I found myself constantly involved in major warfare with them. Whenever I saw their large black shadows on the ground, I’d look up and yell at them “You’re messin’ with the wrong Mama this time ... Don’t even think about it!” But whenever Peeper was at play in the yard, I had to be ever vigilant. By now, Hope had lost all of her ducklings, most likely to the crow family. It is always so sad for me to watch a muscovy mother after this has happened. She spends days looking for her babies, clucking softly hoping they‘ll hear her and come back. Of her own accord, Hope came over several times to Peeper trying to teach him all sorts of things, but he wanted none of it. He always ran away from her and came to sit by me. I had to wonder if somehow Hope knew that Peeper was one of hers. I now had Peepe As Peeper became more wild, Lucky tried relentlessly
to befriend him. Of course, Lucky terrified Peeper. Lucky was so big and clumsy.
I’m sure that to Peeper Lucky looked just like Godzilla. Peeper always ran
away with Lucky following at a fast clip right behind. My husband and I watched
this go on for days until o The weeks went by and Peeper was almost two months old. He was getting harder and harder to put in his cage at night. It now took two or three of us to catch him. And then one night the inevitable happened, I couldn’t catch Peeper. He ran so fast into an area behind my garage which I call my wildlife sanctuary. It is near to the creek and truly overgrown. I purposely let everything grow wild here because many of the birds and ducks love this natural area. But, that night, it all worked against me. I couldn’t even find Peeper. I looked for over an hour and then it began to storm. I was soaking wet and I knew I’d never find him that awful dark night. Heartbroken, I had to give up and hope for the best. I didn’t sleep well that night and I woke up very early the next morning, I looked all over for my little Peeper but he was nowhere to be found. I looked for Peeper for days to no avail. Did he swim off in the creek? Will he come back some day? I know what my head tells me happened, but my heart tells me differently, and, I guess, for once, I’d just like to believe my heart. I suppose I was very lucky to have Peeper in my life - even for such a short time. His antics and his happy little personality eased both the physical pain of my surgery and the emotional pain from the loss of my Gypsy. Once again, there was someone waiting for me when I came home, someone to play with outside and someone to cuddle inside. Maybe next year there’ll be another little Peeper for me to help and maybe next year, I’ll see that duckling grow up all the way. Sometimes, I find it’s so very sad to love my wild friends ... and to want them to be free ... I cry a lot.
|
Sign My Guestbook
A favor ~ If you truly enjoy reading my stories, please visit my Affiliates. They are sites that I have ordered from and love. And, if you too find things that you like, please order from them through my site. It doesn't cost you anything extra and it helps to defray the cost of maintaining my website. Thank you.
Water to Woods
Our Creek
Gardening and Ducks
Squirrels
The text, all photographs and all graphics on this site
Copyright (c) 2000, (c) 2001, (c) 2002, (c) 2003, (c) 2004 by Maria's Duck
Tales.
|
This
year, it started one stormy night in April, in a
utility area of my backyard where my air conditioning units are and my garbage
pails are stored. The area is surrounded on two sides by my house and a second
story sun porch and on the other two sides by large cedar planters of varying
heights, all of which make a cozy little area for the ducks, full of corners and
nooks and crannies. Evidently, during the storm, one of the garbage pails blew against the house, leaning on it at a rather precarious angle, and leaving
just enough room the next day for Hope to sneak underneath. Clearly, Hope felt
that it was absolutely perfect for her spring nest and that is where, a few days
later, I found her sitting on the warm pebbles, hollowing out a spot for her
eggs. When she was not sitting on her nest, I’d look up to find her
perched atop the lattice railing of my sun porch guarding her chosen spot from
all intruders.
Two weeks had now gone by and every day I saw another
egg in the nest under the pail. Ever grandma duck, I braced the pail up against
the house with one of my most expensive clay flowerpots, the better with which
to hold the pail in place so that it wouldn’t fall on Hope or her eggs when
she wasn’t there. As she laid more and more eggs, Hope began to concentrate,
as any mother-to-be would, on making a secure nest, covering her eggs whenever
she left and adding lots and lots of fluffy white down to keep her eggs at the
proper temperature.
Amazingly,
Hope had the most attentive husband. Unlike most muscovy males, he patiently
waited for her, just within calling distance, as she sat on her nest. As Hope
began to spend more and more time on her nest, he too spent more and more time
waiting for her and watching over her. In all my years of taking care of muscovy
ducks, I have never seen a male stay by the nest for such a long time. Then much
to my
surprise, he began to sit on the nest whenever Hope decided that she needed a
break. Every time she left to
eat or bathe or just stretch her legs, Papa took over, so right from the
beginning, I should have realized that this was going to be a most unusual
event.
Just
before Hope’s eggs were due to hatch, I discovered that we had no hot water in
the house. My husband tried everything but could not find the problem. Finally,
he called the local plumber who discovered that the pail shading Hope’s nest
was blocking our hot water heater vent and, in fact, had melted onto the vent
covering it completely. Imagine the plumber’s face when we told him he’d
have to work over Hope’s nest and to “please be extremely careful of our
expectant mother“. Our bill, a little padded, I suppose, due to the unusual
working conditions and the extra stress experienced by the plumber - $227.00!
as
all the ducklings ran around while their mothers frantically tried to sort out
who belonged to whom! Finally, peace and quiet reigned and everyone happily
munched and/or sat and/or swam in the bowl of cracked corn and water that I had quietly
sneaked out for them.
soupy. Well, the little guy just loved his duck soup. He couldn’t get enough
of it. He also couldn’t get enough of me. I guess I was imprinted on him. He
followed me around everywhere. and when he didn’t see me, he just peeped
louder and louder until I came and got him.
I lay down, my little peeper came to bed with me snuggling under my hair. When
we woke up and I wanted to transport him quickly, I just placed him in my sling.
I’m not quite sure what the wonderful surgeon who repaired my hand would think
of this innovative use of his sling though! Peeper, however, loved this new mode
of transportation. It was like a little swing for him and for a time, he happily
went everywhere with me, snuggled inside, sitting atop my cast. 
As the days flew by, he became
more frisky eventually trying to jump out of my sling, especially when he didn't
want to go where I did. His next mode of transportation was my deep pocket. As
he grew older he especially liked that ride, because he could see better. He’d
stick his little yellow head out and off we’d go.
As
the weeks passed, I was starting to feel a little better and I
found myself taking Peeper outside more often. We’d either sit in the shade of
my pear trees or walk around the yard just as I’d seen the other mother ducks
do. I introduced him to new things and enjoyed his reactions, but, as much as he
enjoyed his new found freedom, he always came running back to me. I also wanted to get him used to the other ducks and to
supplementing my duck soup diet with the bugs and grasses that all little baby
ducklings need for a healthy balanced diet. His instincts took over quickly and
he was soon running around at top speed catching all sorts of yummy critters. At
one point, my husband dug up a worm for Peeper, but, while Peeper knew what to do
with it, he didn’t seem too thrilled with the taste.
r one month and
I realized that he thought he was just
a small yellow person. I sadly knew the time had come for him to stop being my
little baby. And so, Peeper spent his first day totally outside in his duck
cage. Muscovies are very friendly ducks and they are always interested in a new
duck in the duck cage. Peeper had plenty of visitors but, none as faithful as Lucky, the older Pekin duckling I was also rehabilitating. During the day,
whenever I was outside, I let Peeper out of his cage as much as possible and
slowly he began to be a real duckling. He had his favorite bushes and he knew
his way around the yard. He always came to me and I had no trouble putting him
in his duck cage at night which I would then place in the garage so that no
night critters could bother him.
ne day we noticed that they were sitting rather close
and so began their special friendship. It was heartwarming to see the big
adolescent Pekin and the little yellow muscovy duckling sitting, while not quite
side by side, at least within a foot or two of each other. I was so glad that Peeper
had made an older friend - one who could show him the ropes which Lucky
wholeheartedly did.
