june 3: the turning world

It was Scout day, and since this is a new thing for us, it still takes up a big part of our day. (Most things involving Out take up our whole day. You've noticed that, right?)

Between making rosewater and Earth Scouts there was mostly Zoo Tycoon, Jurassic Park Danger Zone, and pbs on the tellie.

Off we went!
Back at home we found that we had received something in the mail.... our seeds!Being very excited about The Great Sunflower Project, we headed directly out to the garden to get them planted.
And then we searched out Little Friends to place in our terrarium for a few days.
And then...
and then everything started happening at once.
Boy (of The Boys) came over to ask if Trev could play at his house.... turns out they're going to play here for a minute first.... there's jumping and water balloons and looking for snails for the terrarium and Boy finds Trev's metal detector and thinks that's the coolest thing ever....
and Blondie's Daddy goes out to the little pond they're building in their front yard (across the street) and finds baby ducklings.
"What are you doing here?" asks he.
So this turn of events leads to chaos...
Babies can not stay there... that pond is still being built and is currently being rearranged and there is cement sealer on it and glue and toxins in that water in which baby ducks have made themselves comfortable.
Where's Mama?
So Blondie Senior brings over a pink rubbermaid tote with duckfood (she has domestic baby ducks) and says "Here you go."
???
"Wha....?!?"
So we have a pink tote with three wild ducklings (and shortly another joined them) in it.
I've since found out that she must have laid her eggs (they're brand new babies) in another neighbor's yard, and the babies wandered over to the (toxic and not even filled, but only a puddle) neighbor's pond.Last night Mama was circling around looking for Babies, (when they were here) so we took everyone inside so that she could find the babies, then we'd take them out of the tote for her to lead to Home.
But it got dark, and she didn't find them.
So we tried to make them comfortable, and gave them a lamp to keep warm, and brought them inside.
I don't think they slept, as one of them chirped all night.
Early this morning I brought them back outside and gave them a pie dish to swim in.
I've since done my homework, and it turns out that Mallards can swim and eat on their own at birth, but they need their Mama for protection.
I also read that one thing to do (if they're abandoned) is to find another Mama (that is not overloaded) and to leave the babies -of the exact same size - with her.... Mama Mallards cannot count, and they'll just adopt the babies. Sometimes. :/ Sometimes they'll kill them.

So among this chaos and me frantic and "I don't know what to do and they're wild animals and I don't want to ruin their lives!" I call my friend Julie and drive her husband Lee batty with "What do I do?!" questions and on and on...

And Little Son arrives home and I get off the phone and check on the babies and look at Little Son and he has tears in his eyes and Boy calls from across the way out of his window and Trev says "Don't talk to me, (boy), you're the one who got me into this mess!" and I say "What???" and "What's happened?"
Something about Boy's Mama "Go away and don't come back..."
"What!?"
"I don't think she meant 'Don't come back', Son," says his Daddy.
"What happened?" asks Mama, ducklings forgotten.
"Well, (Boy) and me were trying to watch a movie and it didn't work so I said we could come to my house to watch Ice Age 2 (Boy had it) and (Boy) had the idea to climb out the window and come to my house." (Out of the second story, mind you.)
This morning I've found out that the metal detector and "a prize" was involved, also.... ??
And Boy's Mama said "You guys know better than that..." and Little Son got sent home.
Last night he was very upset over it, and at Duck Time we walked back over to Boy's house to talk with Mama but it was after nine o'clock and there was low music on and she didn't hear us knocking. Or else she has sense and doesn't answer a knock on the door from rude people who dare interrupt life after dark.

So babies are tucked in for the night with a towel, water, and food.
Mama researches baby Mallards.
The human babes get tucked in with Daddy.

Then last night Annabelle freaks out.
She's running around snarling and barking and freaking.
(Dh tells me this story this morning. I only had duckling ears last night, evidently.)
She gets out the side door, bolts to the backyard, and has her nose to the pond.
Daddy brings her back in and she sits at the window in our bedroom (directly over the pond) and whines and freaks for a long time.
Eric tells me this morning that last night something pulled the hose from the pump off the decorative fish fountain thingy.
Thus the Annabelle freak-out.
We check it out a minute ago, and what do we find?
Teeth marks, friends.A raccoon?
Must be.
Something attacked our (empty- as in no fish) pond.

Goodness.
So now I sit here on the patio, calling out to Mama Duck with my best Mama Mojo voice, leading her to her little darlings....
Until she comes I'm doing my best to be a good Auntie....
There are quail flying, butterflies, and even ducks. I've seen about seven hummingbirds at the feeder so far today... there are chickadees, house finches, and starlings and mice (well, I've seen one, anyway).

Life is going on....

Quack.