Just Ducky

I've lived out here on the island for about two years now and have been feeding every freeloader, I mean critter, I've seen since then. The geese were extremely friendly almost from the beginning, often coming within just a few feet of me for their daily handout. The squirrels have been pretty casual too; some days I have to shoo them off the top of the feeder so I can open it. The neighbors must think I'm weird, having a conversation with a squirrel - "all right Chunky, if you don't move your butt off the feeder I won't be able to feed you. I'm not picking you up either. You have perfectly good legs and besides, I don't want rabies shots. Now move it!"

The ducks have always been a different story. While the geese would come running when they saw me and my bucket of corn ("honk HONK! It's the chuck wagon!"), the ducks would fly off before I could get within 30 feet of them. The geese trusted me, so why not the ducks? Sometimes I felt like going on "Oprah" - "Dear Dr. Phil, I have these wild ducks at my house with trust issues..." I didn't let it get to me because frankly, there were too many other things going on like work, a toddler, writing and occasionally making a stand against Old Man River. By the way, part of the backyard is STILL under water, and it's been over two months since the flooding started.

Since the part of the yard that's still underwater is the usual feeding spot, I've had to make do with throwing corn in the part of the yard closer to the house and everyone has adapted nicely, even the uneasy ducks. Sure, they still fly off when they see me but they come right back, sometimes before I'm done throwing corn. One day we achieved a breakthrough. I was minding my own business, looking out the living room window and wondering when that blankety-blanking river would go back in its banks when I noticed several little brown things wandering through my still-unfinished flowerbed. I grabbed the binoculars and couldn't believe what I saw. They were baby ducks! I yelled for my husband, I grabbed the toddler - "look guys, baby duckies!" Bud wasn't impressed and Logan was more interested in the boat going by. I didn't care. This was the first time I'd seen them anywhere near the house; we had baby geese all over the place but never ducks. I snuck out to throw extra corn but they spotted me and waddled off as fast as those itty-bitty feet would go. Apparently I have no future in the CIA. The babies and their mamas continue to make daily visits to the backyard and now I go out early in the morning to throw the corn. The food is there when they come and I get to enjoy watching them chow down. Maybe when these little guys grow up, they'll be more sociable.

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