A Backyard Intruder Puts a Jolt in the Morning

In spring we always have a large amount of water on our property. Some of it natural, some because there is now a golf course instead of trees behinds us, some of it, an attempt to keep it away from our home and out of our basement. My children revel in seeing the birds who flock there, the frogs that grow there. Last fall we got ducklings. They soon discovered the watering hole.

Between our chickens and the ducks, this has been lot of fun, seeing the kids, excited to gather eggs, from both species, mind you. The chickens lay in the coop; ducks on the other hand drop and lay, then walk away. They are not like the wild ducks the kids see on the river with nests. These ducks cannot be bothered. They just want to find the next weed shoot or bug they can eat. Which by the way has been wonderful in keeping the ticks away!

Then along come wild animals. This morning at about 6:45 my Labrador starts launching herself against the sliding glass door as my daughter screams, “FOX, FOX!!” Sure enough, right up close to the house, the enemy! I run from the bathroom, still in my jammies, out the back door, banging on a pot, the dog barking up a storm, as the chickens run to the safety of the house. The ducks are down at the pond, huddled into a mass to make themselves look bigger to the coyote, yes, not a fox this time, a coyote.

The dog is going insane as she won’t go beyond her wireless enclosure; the kids are now outside (in their jammies too, all of us barefoot). Audrey is trying to entice the stragglers into the safety of the fenced area with food.

One of the ducks is injured, so Jack brings me a towel and into a crate she goes. I can’t find a visible injury. It is limping, but I am not so sure the other ducks have not trampled her in their attempt to escape the coyote. Audrey is begging me to save her. After everyone is off to school, I call the vet and they want $150 to see her. Nature may be taking its course on this one. I place her back into the safe area, with food and fresh water. My kids may be learning a lesson of survival of the fittest this afternoon. Ahh, nature; It’s never dull!