A couple of days ago while looking out into our backyard I realized there was a young Wood Duck trying to get out of the yard. I'm not really sure how she got into our yard since we have an entirely fenced in yard, with a 6 foot privacy fence, but she did. I assume this was a she anyway, it was young, but didn't have any of the characteristics of a male wood duck (no start of a crested head or anything). There are several man made ponds in our development, so there are lots of ducks and swans around, I am just not that close to one of the ponds, so it was odd she was over here. I let the kids get a look at her from a good distance since she was absolutely terrified of us and I took a few photo's before trying to help her get out of my yard.
I opened our gate and tried to kind of coach her that while while she was flailing terrified of me. Instead of going out of the gate she pinned herself between pieces of the disassembled rubbermaid shed me have leaning against the fence. I could have grabbed her, but since I'm pregnant, I was worried she'd bite me and manage to get me sick somehow. Instead I decided to call animal control to come get her for me before my dogs went out and hurt her. My lab is very timid, almost too submissive really, but I don't know if her natural instincts would kick in with a duck and didn't want to take that chance! The animal control officer was very nice, got a hold of her and checked her out. Since she appeared to be uninjured, he took her in a pet carrier and brought her to one of the ponds around here. I'm very happy about that!
I took this opportunity to teach the kids about Wood Ducks! They were able to get a look at her and were able to get a better look from the photo's I took. I did research about them online with the kids, showed them the differences in the appearance of males and females. I read to them about how they migrate, how they live, what they eat etc. It was a nice little lesson for them.
It's amazing how little everyday experiences can turn into fun lessons.
1 comment:
Aww...poor duck! I'm glad she made it back to the pond.
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