Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Poor ducky

As we were leaving the house to get the kids a haircut, I happened to notice a duck in our front yard. She was semi-surrounded by some small bushes, so I didn't notice her at first. Once I did, I also noticed she wasn't alone. Sticking out from underneath her feathers was an egg. Yes, a duck was going to have a baby duck in our front yard. The kids thought it was neat and so did I.

On the way to the haircut, I thought about what I would write here, how I would get a picture, and, most important, how would I protect the egg from the landscapers when they came. I knew that would be any day now.

So, on the way home, I took the back way in so I could try to get a quick picture with my cellphone. But, as I pulled up, I could tell something was wrong. The duck wasn't sitting. She seemed to be searching. Looking around for something. Then I noticed the wood chips on which she was standing looked different. They were no longer covered by dead leaves, and the edges looked freshly, well, edged. And, yes, the egg was gone. In the short time that we were gone the landscapers came and cleaned up the yard, unknowingly taking the egg with them.

The duck us gone now. She probably won't be back.

Should I put an egg from the fridge out there for her to sit on? Just to make her feel better?

3 comments:

Cookie said...

Poor little duckie.

Please don't give her an egg, Mike. She would be sitting on something that would not hatch out and that's not fair. Let her move on and try again when her little body is ready.

Stupid gardeners.

Mike said...

Cookie: I don't think I have any anyway. I bet they didn't even see the egg. They were probably working on getting the old leaves out and didn't even realize what it was. It's probably for the best; don't they need to be near water. We have a pound a few blocks away, but that seems for for a little duck to waddle.

Cookie said...

That's true. They were most likely busy doing their job and didn't look around to see if there were any eggs sitting around.

They do need a water source, but you'd be surprised where birds can find water. I see little birds playing in puddles all the time.