The end of the story

Last spring, I posted about the widower Canadian goose who faithfully returned to the spot where his mate was killed by a car seven years ago.  This morning, I drove past that spot and saw he was lying dead beside the road near where she died.

There's really nothing uplifting that can be said about it except that millions of new little Canadian geese are being hatched at this time of year. It's still the sad ending to a sad story.

                     (Rock on, all you lovely geese parents!)

Just another stupid Sunday

I'm really mad at myself today. I've been volunteering at a Specialty Clinic for Regions Hospital for five years. They had a Volunteer Recognition brunch today at noon at a very nice restaurant I could never afford. (A New Orleans Jazz Brunch, no less!) I had been looking forward to it for weeks and then spaced it out until 1:00. I've been torturing myself all day for being so stupid.

Sometimes I blame these lapses on having worked so many years in an office job that required constant multitasking. I find it hard to focus on one thing. I'm still mentally working on several things at any one time so I never make much progress. Of course, a lot of people my age call it "a senior moment" or Halfs-heimers"
or "Olds-heimers"--or even "a brain fart"! Whatever the cause, I'm terribly disappointed.

I've been having a turkey or two coming by for a handout every once in a while. They don't hang around. Jan who blogs at Revising Life informs me that a bunch of turkeys is called a gang or a rafter. I feel kinda silly for never looking it up myself.

I also got a comment about working with Wildlife Rehab from Susan who blogs at My Mother's Apron Strings. She says, "We took a Canadian Goose that lived on our pond to one in Connecticut--she had a dislocated wing (probably from a snapping turtle).  After two days, she escaped and walked twelve miles back to our pond. It took her two weeks but she wasn't about to be kept away from her new goslings!"
Isn't that an amazing story? It really warms my heart.

                                 (Borrowed image)

Here's a salute to all the wonderful men and women who rush in whenever there's a catastrophe. They are true heroes! (My granddaughter is married to a policeman and my grandson is married to an EMT.)

Keeping busy is good for you!

When folks tell you that you're just as busy after you retire as you were before, they aren't kidding! You feel like you have lots of free time so you gradually take on more things to do until suddenly you start feeling overloaded. But then, you just carry on.

Last Wednesday, the entire turkey troup suddenly showed up in the wooded lot looking for food. I raced out with the goodies and they roosted overnight in the big cottonwood tree. They left the next morning and haven't been back since. I was so very happy and relieved to see they were all together and doing fine. They really brightened up a boring winter and gave me a lot of joy--not to mention blogging topics!

I have signed up to volunteer with the local Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. They work with sick and injured birds and animals to return them to the wild. I have orientation training next week and it appears I'll be working with baby birds. Maybe I'll even wind up with young turkeys or wood ducks!  

                 (Borrowed from Google images, as always!)

What would a wood duck do?

Every morning, I take my newspaper and a big mug of coffee out onto the patio to read in the peaceful quiet. My three kitties come outside with me and do a "grounds check" to see what intruders may have passed through during the night. They check out the shrubs and trees but don't go farther than the wooded lot next door. (I admit, disabuse them of wandering with a squirt bottle.) 

They often sprawl under the huge pine trees across the yard. I looked up from my paper to see Sunny chasing something over there. I assumed it was his usual prey--a dragonfly or moth. After a few minutes, I saw him pick up something in his mouth that was much larger. He then dashed toward the patio and I saw  he had a baby duck hanging headfirst out of his mouth. I was shocked and alarmed. I jumped up to take it from him and he ran away (of course!).

I was able to chase him into the house with the other two cats close behind. Once cornered, Sunny released his prey--first one tiny wood duck--and then a second one! The two terrified little ducks took off running in different directions with the cats in close pursuit. One was weaving among the legs of the dining room chairs while the other ran behind the couch. Since the biggest threat was the cats, I set about rounding them up and locking them in the bedroom.

                                    (Sunny relaxing)

Next, I had to catch the little ducks who were amazingly fast and energetic, especially since they don't appear to be more than a few days old. I finally captured each of them by dropping a towel over them. I found a deep box and put them inside. They seemed unhurt despite Sunny's attempts to keep them in his jaws. I laid the towel over them to calm them and they became still. 

I walked over to the pine trees where Sunny found the ducklings but there was no trace of other ducks and no sign of a nest. I decided they probably got lost and wandered there--maybe after the bad storm of a few days ago.

After the excitement, I was too restless to finish reading the paper, so I decided to go over to Curves and do my workout. To make sure the cats couldn't get at the baby ducks, I set the box on top of the refrigerator and set stuff on the counter to keep the cats from jumping up there. I then let the cats out of the bedroom. Everything seemed secure, so I left.

When I came back an hour later, I walked in the door to see a duckling running across the living room cheeping loudly. The other duckling was running down the hall to the bedroom. Sunny, Gracie and Tweedy were all lying nonchalantly on the floor watching this mayhem with mild interest

I was stunned! How had they jumped out of the box and off the refrigerator with their tiny little legs? And how were they running around unmolested by the cats?

I proceeded to round up the ducklings with a towel again, and this time, I deposited them in the bathtub and closed the door. I went on Google to find out how to take care of baby wood ducks. If the wealth of information available online is any indication, it's not that uncommon to find little ones. I learned that if they're cheeping, that means they're cold--so I put a heating pad set on low in the tub. They crawled on top and snuggled together. I gave them a straight-sided shallow pan for water and finely chopped some lettuce, a strawberry and walnuts for food.

I'm pondering what to do next. I'm thinking of keeping them until they're a little bigger and taking them to a pond. At the moment, one of them is running around in the bathtub cheeping loudly while the other is quietly resting on the heating pad. I'm concerned it may have been injured. I would welcome any advice from any of you duckling lovers

                   RIP Little Darlings