We have almost twenty ducks at our pond, a pair of geese, and regular visiting local Canadian geese. The local wildlife do not go hungry.... Raccoons enjoy regular meals of fresh eggs from the nests during the spring and summer. Foxes and coyotes have been treated to fresh meals as well. Sadly not a lot can be done about it. We have had one successful duckling hatched and raised in the 4 years we've had ducks.
Two smart ducks have learned to come into the yard to lay. We then round them up after hatch and raise them for a few weeks until they're large enough to survive the catfish and turtles. They don't all survive but some do. This year we've had 4 clutches hatch and so far 1 survivor 🙄 The girls decided to have one more go at it and we released 15 young ducklings at the pond last Thursday.
This morning they made their way back and are happily following the two young geese around. Silly ducklings! It'll be fun gathering them up for another trip out. Any volunteers?!
UPDATE:
Volunteers not needed - they made their way back to the pond by mid afternoon! 😏
Marley joined our family in 2017. She is a Sulcata, or African spurred tortoise. I'd always wanted one and found an owner who wasn't prepared to continue providing for the tortoise. I feel very fortunate to have found Marley because baby Sulcatas can be difficult to raise. She was 1.11 pounds at 2 years of age when we got her. At first she stayed in a huge tub in the pantry with daily soaks and trips outside for sun and fresh grass.
I spent time learning about her - what she should eat, what not to feed her, the need for regular soaks, ideal temperatures for her, etc. She has pyramiding which means the scutes, or sections of the carapace, are pointy like... a pyramid. Over time those should all but disappear with proper care and diet. In the picture below you can see all of the new smooth dark brown growth. The lighter centers of her scutes are the older portion of her shell and the only part that pyramids. Below she is soaking in warm water and this is her relaxed flying tort position.
Last autumn I was hand raising a kitten, a piglet, and another critter soon to be introduced. The house was full of heat lamps and bottles of formula. Marley kept joining the pig because she liked his heat lamp, blanket, and trying to get a bite of food. The piglet wasn't willing to share 😏
Several times I have taken her outside, got distracted by the myriad activities around here, and lost her 😕 Once she was gone for three months! Can't tell you how happy we were to see her walking in the yard happily munching away on grass. We have tried several methods to keep track of her, including attaching a Tile to her shell. We've also had many discussions about what we'd like to build for her as she grows but haven't settled on anything yet.
Summers are spent outside in an enclosure that gets moved around so she constantly has fresh grass, water, sun, and a shady spot. When the weather at night drops in the 60's she comes inside to sleep behind the recliner where her heat lamp is. Sometimes she likes a shower but most days her soaks are in the tub. Afternoons are spent wandering around the house rearranging furniture and eating. I'm convinced she's a closet interior designer... And, when the days get warm enough we sit outside while she eats grass.
Notice the thin white lines between the scutes. That is all new growth! If you compare the video with the earlier photos you can tell how smooth her shell is growing now.
I weigh her every year. Last year she weighed 4.5 pounds. This year she's at a whopping 13.6 pounds! She may reach 100 pounds and will live almost 100 years with one or both of the kids after we're gone 🙂
