Ducklings!

[Violet]

LONG story short, my neighbors had a mallard nesting under a bush. We saw her fly in and out every day in the same direction going for food/water. We'd been wondering what would happen when the eggs hatched, being as we're in a large neighborhood, lots of fences, NO bodies of water, except pools. Well, the eggs hatched Friday, and Saturday morning mama duck tried to walk them away and ended up getting trapped in fenced in yard. My neighbor and I (w/a little assistance from my husband and daughter) ended up assisting mama to walk the ducks about a mile down a dirt road that luckily was right behind the yard she was in and led to a very small retention pond. The babies were SO cute and followed their mama very closely. Mama ended up getting a bit tired, so my husband scooped her up and we put her and the babies into a box and carried them the rest of the way. We got to the pond and they happily walked to the edge and made their way through the catty-nine (sp?) tails to the water. We went to check on them a few times and they seem happy there. I think this is where mama had been flying to.

Guess this wasn't as short as I thought! Anyway, my neighbor and I kept saying how cool it was that we were helping a mama duck on Mother's Day weekend.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

Carol