Oh How Times Have Changes

Wow, it has almost been a year since I started the blog about Fred and Ethel. It was short lived due to dramatic changes in our lives. Shortly after the last blog in 2007, my husband, the builder of the duck house and duck island was diagnosed with cancer. In January of 2008 he died.

So... I never finished the story of the ducklings. They only stayed a week or two. They were so cute but it was very, very stressful. They learned how to get out of the pool and paraded all around the yard anytime they wanted. We tried to work the dog schedule around them, but it was hard.

One morning Yoshi caught one. He let it go, but after that we could only count 12 ducklings, so we weren't quite sure what happened. That night we came home from work and they were gone. We never saw the ducklings again. However, after a few days, Ethel would come back in the evenings to relax and eat dinner.

Larry eventually took down the duck house and duck island and they left for the season.

This year, Fred and Ethel returned, but I can't do what we did last year, so I have let them know that they are not welcome. I have chased them away again and again and so Ethel must be nesting somewhere else. There are several houses with pools that are vacant and under foreclosure, so hopefully she has found a peaceful place to build her nest.

She came by herself this morning and I let her stay as long as she wanted.

What's interesting is last year there were three adult ducks that came by frequently. There was Fred, Ethel and Ralph. This year there is a third male duck. I have had all four at one time only once, but have had the three males several times. The new adult male is a little honory. He isn't scared of me or the dogs. He actually chases Yoshi and Yoshi almost caught him once. He is definitely his own duck. I named him Larry.