In loving memory of my pet ducks...

[camille1585]

I realized that I can't post pics of my orchids without posting some of my pets as well!
My sister and I have pets ducks, and they are even cuddlier than cats or dogs. They watch television sitting on our laps, come in the house and crave attention and cuddling. They can stay in our laps or arms for hours on end! Sadly enough, a fox somehow got into our yard in May. All of them were killed and dragged away and we were devestated. We loved them so much... Somehow I can't bring myself to speak of them in past tense...

We got 3 call ducks in 2004. This is a really small breed, and they weigh between 1.3 and 2lbs (pic 1:Sidney and Smokey the females and their drake Shiloh). We hand raised them and pampered them so that's why they are so tame. The next year they/we raised their first family of 10 ducklings.(last pic and pic 2). We could only keep 4 of them!!

Pic 3 is Smokey. She LOVES cameras and my sister!!

Next is Spotty. She is very curious and also very weird. She hangs out with Lefty (pic 6) all the time and they do weird/stupid things so we call them the Silly Sisters

Pic 5 is Piggy, the son of Shiloh. He's a pig in every sense of the term, especially with his mate Puny(pic7)! Poor puny, she is so small compared to him, we always have to rescue her!
Pics 8 and 9 our the other, bigger ducks we have. Ry the white muscovy follows us everywhere if it somehow involves food and is generally in the way of whatever we do in the yard. Canette and Caroline (the goose) were going to be 10 and 11 years old when they died. It was so hard to lose them since we grew up with them...

Sorry to ramble on and on about ducks. They are my other great love in life, before orchids even!

[cb977]

Camille, don't be sorry for rambling...they are family
They all look like they lived good lives and were well taken care of
You and your family did a wonderful job with them

[puddin]

Oh, I'm so sorry! That totally sucks! They look great in the pictures. I love the ducklings! They are so cute!
You can never ramble on about your pets, by the way.

[camille1585]

People usually consider us crazy (especially people our age) when we say we have pet ducks, so my sister and I now have the habit of excusing ourselves whenever we go on and on about them!

[Phantasm]

It's amazing how cuddly birds can be......My African Grey parrot loves being petted and scratched every night and complains if he doesn't get some love. You could never tell me that animals don't have emotions.......

[puddin]

They consider you crazy because you keep pet ducks? I don't think that. We all love something. I remember I was in a pet store and I heard a boy wanting to buy a posionous spider they had. And the mother was going to buy it for him! That totally creeped me out! (By the way, I hate spiders.)

[Becca]

My favorite is picture number 4! I have one question for you....if they come in the house and watch TV and sit in your laps, how do you keep them from pooping everywhere?

I hate how people always think that certain things are crazy, they never stop to think about the things they like to enjoy....like my mom thought I was wacko with orchids....she shows cats and I think she is wacko....lol....but I realize that eveyone enjoys something different, I think she is realizing that too!

[quiltergal]

My sister had a Dutch bunny as a pet when we were kids. Munchkin lived out in the backyard most of the time but would come in the house every morning for his wilted veggie treat from the fridge. When he was done he would hop all the way up stairs and used the cat box. He never made a mess in the house.

Camille, I love Caroline the goose. She looks so regal! I like ducks too, though I've never had one as a pet. Sorry to hear the fox got them all.

[gmdiaz]

Camille, your post really made my day!

Those are just the most wonderful pictures. . .those ducks lucked totally out to find you and your sister! And boy does it show on their happy duck faces!

Phantasm, I so agree. . .only a "wacko" (lol Becca) could think that animals have no emotions or that we, humans, feel more than they do.

Gawd, I love picture #3.

You know foxes will be foxes. Can you block their way into your yard? They can jump about as high as a cat and are about that dexerious too. And can dig under fences and squeeze through narrow pickets in fences. They're very slim, actually. To block them, you'll have to be more clever than the very clever & hungry fox. . .

[camille1585]

We just had bad luck I think. The ducks are at our country house so we see them only weekend and vacations. We set up food and water dispensers so they were fine on their own. We make regular checks of the fence, especially since a fox got in the year before and nabbed one. Luckily we were there and could fix the problem asap. We had a hectic spring this year and didn't check the fence very well, especially the parts buried in the undergrowth! That was the fatal mistake.

And actually, the ducks are fairly clean when they are sleeping on our laps. We put an old cloth between us and their butts though! It's funny when we bring them in during winter evenings because when it's time to go back to the yard they look at us with eyes that clearly say "I'm NOT moving and NOT going back in the cold you crazy person!!" We have to physical drag them off us and try not to look at those pleading eyes... They can be very manipulative sometimes!

There are so many types of pets that are so intelligent and have unique personalities (rabbits, birds, little furry creatures, reptiles....) but aren't really recognized as being like that. What a shame.....

Phantasm, you are so lucky to have an African Gray!! They're expensive, but more than worth it I think. I would love to have one, but it's a lifelong commitment. Can yours say any words?