Yesterday I found out one of my pet ducks, Yummy, died. I got my two ducks a little over a year ago and when we found out we would be relocating we decided they'd be hard to move and there was a good chance we wouldn't find a new house that was as accommodating to ducks. We did know of a wonderful place to take them though,
Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. My husband had been taking his youth group there every spring break for years to build big cat habitats and we had made friends with the people who work there, dedicating their lives to rescuing and loving these animals. They were happy to have them. They had two ducks already but one of them wasn't doing so well and they were worried about having the healthy duck be lonely. We moved Yummy and Dr. Quack and they fit right in. We hear they and the other healthy duck were immediate buddies and would walk the road around the entire habitat loop, not a short walk. They don't know what happened to Yummy, they just found her in the morning cuddled up to the not-so-well duck with an apparently crushed chest. She had a short but good life.
I never expected to become so attached to ducks but should've known better.
Is there anything cuter than a duckling?! Dr. Quack and Yummy all set up in their new home, a dog cage in our laundry room.
I have to admit, Yummy was my favorite from the beginning with her purple bill and feet.
Yes that's me in a nerdy duck related shirt, but I really did chill with me peeps alot.
I didn't know anything about ducks until I had my own. Then I learned they need to be socialized if you want them to be nice and friendly. Birds at close range, especially face level, have always kindof creeped me out, but I sucked it up and every night my husband would play on the computer and my peeps and I would sit next to him on the bed and have quality time together. It never stopped creeping me out, but I really found it wonderful and relaxing.
Here is Yummy swimming in the bathtub, still too young to go outside. Watching them grow was incredible! Ducks will go from baby to full fledged duck in a little over a month so we really watched them grow before our very eyes. Every day they looked different and it got harder and harder to have them living in the house.
Finally moving day arrived. They had enough feathers, the weather was warm enough and we built a pond in our backyard. Doesn't it look like she's smiling! They loved the pond and it was so much fun watching them swim and play like real ducks.
Please carefully consider any pets you get and do your research before you take the plunge! Ducks are wonderful but they are alot of work and very dirty for that first month they have to live inside. Just like any pet, if you are educated first you will be a much happier pet owner. Wanting to give ducklings as cute Easter gifts is tremendously irresponsible. They are pets that need love and care, not to mention commitment, they can live to be 15 years old!
Mr Golden Curls turns four today. I can't believe it, every year I can't believe it! Yesterday we had his party. He requested a pirate party, which thrilled me, with the stipulation that it was to be "happy pirates, not scary pirates." Yesterday morning he sprung awake and yelled from the bedroom "Is it my birthday today?" "yes!" "YEAAAAA!" He loved his day so much which, in my book, makes it a rousing success.
Everyone knows what he likes and he absolutely loved all of his gifts. He was so excited to open them that he plowed through them in a whirl wind of tissue paper and gift bags and was done in about 5 minutes! Our gift to him was a Kidizoom digital camera (which is awesome by the way). As soon as he saw the flame covered case he knew what it was, his eyes bugged out and he had the most wonderfully excited smile on his face. He immediately started snapping blurry pictures of people with their heads cut off!
Pappa tried to help Mr. Golden Curls compose a picture of his favorite person, and the subject he wanted to photograph first, his little brother!
