Duckie's New Home

Well, I finally bit the bullet and took Duckie to her new home. It was definitely a bit hard to let her go, but it's a beautiful little area in one of the marinas here in the area, with about a dozen other ducks around.

I was very worried about how the other ducks would react to this new little one that showed up on their door step, but I was pleasantly surprised when within a few minutes, one of the older ducks came over and started to check her out.

Within 10 minutes, they were both in the water swimming around, with Duckie following the other duck.

So, it looks like Duckie has found a new mum. Such fickleness. From following me around everywhere, to dropping me like a rock.

But it looks like she's in a nice spot, with others to help her out and to teach her the things I never could.

I'll be going over there periodically to check up on her and make sure she's doing well, but I have high hopes that with her new mum, she'll be just fine. Talons Crossed!

My love and best wishes go out to her.

The Ugly Duckling

Okay, she's not really ugly... in fact, she's downright precious.

On my way back home, I found a baby duckling floating in the river, alone, sick, tired, and half drown. So naturally, I scooped her up and took her home with me. Poor little thing was shaking and frightened. She couldn't be more than 2 weeks old.

When we got home, I found that all she could do was roll her head back until she flopped on her back, then couldn't right herself back up. So I pulled out my trusty med kit, cleaned her up, and started her on some antibiotics.

Because she couldn't even sit without falling over, I made a makeshift nest out of towels for her so she would have support.

I never really expected her to survive that first night. She neither ate nor drank the entire day or that night. The following morning, after a lot of prodding, she finally took her first drink of water. Several hours later, she actually started to eat a little. What a relief.

After several days, she has improved immensely! She is still weak and not very steady on her feet, but then again, she is still a babe.

Okay, here's the hard part... I needed a name for her, so I decided to call her Fluffy, as she really is just a little ball of fluff at the moment. But I know that with a name like Fluffy, she'll probably grow up to be evil reincarnated - well, wouldn't you, if your parents name you Fluffy?

Anyway, I think I've found a home for her, but I'll keep her for a bit longer so she can finish up her meds and I can be sure that she is back to full health.

I'll try and do an update when she is at her new home.