This morning I woke up quite early so I was working on a project for the kids' room. Around 4:30 or 5 I heard some crows going crazy outside. It went on for minute, then it occurred to me they might be trying to get into the duckling pen. I went to the sliding glass door and flung the curtain open and saw the fox that hung around our house all last summer and never once caught our kitten who spent most nights outside (Lemon, man, she was awesome) turn and dash off through the trees in the front. I peered as best I could into the pen from the window and saw the fence was still up and saw one of the ducklings sitting over by the little makeshift hutch we had (we're in the process of moving and prepping what will actually be the hutch). Generally the two sleep together and stay as close as possible together, so I assumed the girl was still there just on the other side of her brother.
I went out hours and hours later to change their water and realized as I got closer that, although he had moved, Chucklefeather (yes, that's right) was still sitting on the ground and I couldn't see Flora anywhere. Then I saw that one side of the fence was pushed in--still standing, but not at all the way it has been. I ran up, looked around, and sure enough, Flora was gone. Chucklefeather is alive but left with an injured leg.
I'm so disappointed and sad. Sure, we were always planning on ending his life, but I didn't really plan on doing it while he is so young. I put him in a box with clean straw and set him up with some food and water right where he can get it. We'll give it 5 days or so and if he seems to be thriving we'll see if he can cope with the gimpy leg--it's surprising how well some animals do. If not, we'll put him out of his misery. I would leave him for the fox so it's not a total waste, but we plan on getting other birds and I don't want to encourage the fox to keep coming back.
I told Mike all about this in text. Here are the last few volleys:
Mike: Poor guy. I bet he misses Flora too. How did Madie react?
Me: I'm sure he does. They've never been apart. [Madie] asked to see what a dead duckling looks
like.
Mike: She is so morbid.
Me: Hahahaha! I know! I love it.
I explained the fox took the duckling away. She asked why God made foxes to eat ducks. I told her we were going to eat the ducks too, so we can't blame the fox for getting there first--we should have had a real coop ready.
It's such a typical reaction for her. When Lemon was killed (again, not by the fox, but by Rt. 3 traffic in August), she asked to see her body. We told her she had already been disposed of (we were away, but our neighbor called us and said he had moved her off the road). She then wanted to go see where she was killed. I took her to the side of the road and we basically stared at a dark, faintly red patch on the road for 20 minutes before I could convince her the bugs were too bad for us to stay out any longer. She's either going to be a forensic psychologist, a writer of dark comedies, or a serial killer. (I'm rooting for psychologist.)
I went out hours and hours later to change their water and realized as I got closer that, although he had moved, Chucklefeather (yes, that's right) was still sitting on the ground and I couldn't see Flora anywhere. Then I saw that one side of the fence was pushed in--still standing, but not at all the way it has been. I ran up, looked around, and sure enough, Flora was gone. Chucklefeather is alive but left with an injured leg.
I'm so disappointed and sad. Sure, we were always planning on ending his life, but I didn't really plan on doing it while he is so young. I put him in a box with clean straw and set him up with some food and water right where he can get it. We'll give it 5 days or so and if he seems to be thriving we'll see if he can cope with the gimpy leg--it's surprising how well some animals do. If not, we'll put him out of his misery. I would leave him for the fox so it's not a total waste, but we plan on getting other birds and I don't want to encourage the fox to keep coming back.
I told Mike all about this in text. Here are the last few volleys:
Mike: Poor guy. I bet he misses Flora too. How did Madie react?
Me: I'm sure he does. They've never been apart. [Madie] asked to see what a dead duckling looks
like.
Mike: She is so morbid.
Me: Hahahaha! I know! I love it.
I explained the fox took the duckling away. She asked why God made foxes to eat ducks. I told her we were going to eat the ducks too, so we can't blame the fox for getting there first--we should have had a real coop ready.
It's such a typical reaction for her. When Lemon was killed (again, not by the fox, but by Rt. 3 traffic in August), she asked to see her body. We told her she had already been disposed of (we were away, but our neighbor called us and said he had moved her off the road). She then wanted to go see where she was killed. I took her to the side of the road and we basically stared at a dark, faintly red patch on the road for 20 minutes before I could convince her the bugs were too bad for us to stay out any longer. She's either going to be a forensic psychologist, a writer of dark comedies, or a serial killer. (I'm rooting for psychologist.)
1 comment:
that is sad. and madie is funny. so i'm validating you on two points. you're welcome.
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