Then there were three...

This was a sad day at our house...

When I went outside yesterday evening to bring the ducks into their pen, I noticed that only three were standing there...

I knew that something was wrong because they are never apart.

I looked around hoping and yet not hoping to find evidence of her disappearance...

I asked Brian this morning if he would go out and take a look around to check to see if there was any sign of her body...I didn't want to stumble upon it later on today, and be upset.


He couldn't find anything, so the mystery remained. The ducks are just too big to be carried off by a hawk so I knew it couldn't be that, but there was no sign of it anywhere else.



When I went out an hour or so later to let them out of their pen, I noticed a piece of her neck with a bill attached. It was so sad to see that all that remained of that beautiful white bird was that. I'm sure it was a raccoon...This is just the time of year when everything that has been hibernating is starting to wake up...



The raccoon was probably pregnant and starving and desperate...which would explain why she would come out in the broad day light to attack.






I know to some this probably seems a bit ridiculous to be mourning over a silly duck. But the fact is, these are my pets and I raised them from day old ducklings...I've gone to great lengths to make sure they are safe and have a happy life.



My beloved boy duck, "Buck", was killed by a raccoon last spring as well. That was a more traumatic experience for me as he wasn't dead when I found him--just mauled. I had to rush him to the vet and they ended up putting him to sleep. I was so attached to him. He was like a little dog. He would run up to me when he saw me and hang out with me when I was gardening.

He was so regal and handsome!

It was harder to have him gone because he was the leader of the other two ducks and when he was gone, they were kind of lost. I bought two more ducklings a few weeks later and ended up with another male, which was what I was hoping for. The one that died was "Pearl", the new female.

I hate the food chain!

I don't want to not own a pet just because I fear getting too attached...

I wish I was more like a farmer who just looked at this as a normal part of life...

I'm not going to order more ducklings this year...I've just got too much going on to devote the kind of time that is needed for the first 5 weeks of raising them...It's quite an adventure!

Sorry about the over abundance of duck information and pictures lately...

Thanks for sticking with me!