Today I am thankful for...
-my kind hearted, animal loving, talented husband. This is what he carried home on Friday in his lunch bag while riding his bike - the two little fluffballs on the right. (They are not dead, they were just exhausted and fell asleep looking like their necks were broken.)
We now have 4 ducklings living in our garage - Lily and Lulu the Pekins and Jack and Nack the orphaned Mallards. However, we can't get too attached to the Mallards because they are wild birds and so will probably decide to fly off and leave our half acre when they feel the migration itch.
While my husband was walking around campus, he heard a very distinct distressed peeping sound. Looking around, he saw two ducklings walking down a road between two buildings. Some ladies came out and said that a mother duck had built a nest behind a HVAC chiller, but that she had disappeared with the other ducklings. The ladies had been watching for the mother to come back and had not seen her for a couple hours. There is a duck pond just a short distance away, so my husband carried them there, thinking that he could reunite the ducklings with their mother. When he set them near the pond, they immediately joined a group of other ducklings, but after a minute, the mother of that group realized that they were intruders and she attacked them. My husband said she picked them up by their necks and slammed them onto the ground. Then another female did the same thing. When two drakes got interested and started making their way toward the commotion, my husband knew he had to get them out of there or they would be killed. So my wonderful husband loaded them into his lunch bag and pedaled home. Luckily we had an extra heat lamp in the shed and so had them warm and toasty within minutes of arriving home.
We don't know exactly what will happen with these Mallards. Will we put them in the pen with the Pekins and chickens? Will they get along with the Pekins? Will they fly away as soon as they have the chance? However, I am thankful that my husband happened to be in the right place at the right time. He seems to be a bit of a duck magnet - this is at least the third time in his life that he has rescued baby ducklings from certain death.
Here are some photos of Lulu and Lily getting some sun therapy. We're thinking that LuLu might be Lou - he is much bigger than Lily.
What are you thankful for?