Like Monk would say, “…too much nature…”

Spiky Bugger

Spiky Bugger

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Messages
6,213
Recently:
•the coyotes are down from the foothills
•a skunk has visited, setting off the Ring alarm
•a hummingbird seems to like the flowers on the only plant on our porch
•baby possums climbed on our decorative brick wall
•a squirrel set off our Ring alarm
•butterflies—dozens of ’em—seem to really like our lantana plant
•our usual lizard population seemed to be adjusting well
•but now, a dove (or two) thinks our garage is a really neat place to hang out.

This is the suburbs. Lots of concrete and asphalt. Houses. Schools. And NATURE! Way too much nature!
 
We are in the burbs. We get deer eating shrubery, plus wild turkeys (they are THUGS), skunks, raccoon, woodpeckers (they love metal during mating season for the sound) and porcupine. We also have a mystery animal in our grapevines. The dog used to point there all year. Soon, we will get our spring tree frogs singing.

New this week, a green head mallard and his woman, walking like she's full of eggs, in front of our house. Looking for suitable nesting?
 
Sheanie said:
We are in the burbs. We get deer eating shrubery, plus wild turkeys (they are THUGS), skunks, raccoon, woodpeckers (they love metal during mating season for the sound) and porcupine. We also have a mystery animal in our grapevines. The dog used to point there all year. Soon, we will get our spring tree frogs singing.

New this week, a green head mallard and his woman, walking like she's full of eggs, in front of our house. Looking for suitable nesting?
Click to expand...

Sheanie !!

Same thing going on here! But first, they went for a swim.


2336
 
Well, something to see now.

Eggs hatched. Now there are NINE ducks (the mama and eight ducklings...as per their culture, the dad has split) in our pool. We have to get rid of them.

FIRST, they need a pond, not a pool. Not enough nutritional value and too much chlorine. The will suffer from malnutrition, or so say the experts. Also, they grow fast and deliver prodigious amounts of duck poo. The pool and its environs will be unusable until late July and then will need a clean up.

ALSO, I’m having trouble keeping up. Duck...well...it looks like gang rape to humans, happens. We had two drakes go after the hen today. After that debacle, another hen joined the mama n the pool. Meanwhile, I just learned that 19% of “mallard couples” are male-male. This is way more animal husbandry than I ever aspired to.
 
wow, so much about Duck Culture I didn't know. I don't want to be a duck! do you have a plan to get rid of them? is there some sort of relocation program?
 
I bet there is a bird rescue that might take them. All they would have to do is deliver them to a pond. My area in Las Vegas is pretty urban and we see coyotes often. Seldom hear them. Ducks every spring.
 
We did NOT disturb their nest. But we trimmed some lantana plants that hid their route to that nest. We moved the chairs she liked to hide under to a place where the chairs were exposed on all sides. She didn’t like that. We opened a gate and then “stationed” ourselves on all side of the pool except the side that led to the open gate. She and her babies kept moving away from us, then out of the pool, then past the exposed entrance to the nest, then past the chairs and out the gate.

It was HER choice. We have photos and a couple of souvenirs...two eggs that didn’t hatch and duckling fluff.

2358


2357
 
Munchkin said:
I bet there is a bird rescue that might take them. All they would have to do is deliver them to a pond. My area in Las Vegas is pretty urban and we see coyotes often. Seldom hear them. Ducks every spring.
Click to expand...

They will take abandoned babies, but not if the mom is present. We decided to use the pool, too...and include beach balls and inflatable toys and pool noodles. Mama Duck was not fond of our pool toys. But that was HER problem. And she chose to move away from them...and us. But once she started moving, the only reasonable…from a duck’s perspective…route was out an open gate...which we immediately closed. There are all kinds of laws saying we can’t mess with the ducks or their nests...but nothing saying we had to leave our gate open. She could fly over the fence, but the ducklings were not flight-ready. So Mama decided to move.

Then my next door neighbor called. Mama was in THEIR pool. But babies couldn’t get in there either. But there are LOTS of houses with pools in this area.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top