My Duck Teacher
We are animal people, but we have never had the honor of having a family of ducks in our backyard. This was a first—um, and hopefully, a last.
On the other hand, I have learned so much from this excellent Mama Duck that I had to share. Mama Duck taught me mother love. It seems stupid. I have seen ducks before, but have never experienced the eggs being laid (in the dark of night) and having more eggs miraculously appear the next day. And then, a few weeks after Mama has sat very patiently on her eggs (like in the movies), six fuzzy baby duckies float like corks in our swimming pool with Mama Duck leading the way. It's like a Disney movie or a National Geographic moment is happening in our backyard! (Yes, we are city folk.)
HERE’S WHAT I LEARNED:
Mama Ducks are fearless. Protective. Tireless. Vigilant. Loud! She went nuts the first time the pool service came to clean the very dirty pool. It's all her fault, by the way. Of all the cute stuff you get with ducks, duck poop is not one of them! So, we tried to stop feeding them, but now they come to the screen door and beg. LOL.
Mama Duck and her babies have stolen our hearts and our backyard. Their presence has given us faith that Nature continues to do its thing regardless of what else is happening in the world. And we get to witness it! Lucky us. This duck family has been calming, fun, and entertaining in their cutsie, waddling, and poopy way.
But now we're looking for tips to get them to leave. Here’s the thing: if you were fed and had a really cool protected home with a huge swimming pool and lots of shady spots, would you leave? No. Me neither.
When we get another dog, we hope to train it to keep the ducks out next year! In the meantime, we're threatening to stop feeding them. Then they'll go, right?
