I know it's Spring when my friends the Mallards come to visit. I was doing the laundry today and looked out the window and they they were, sitting on the edge of the pool. They look nice and healthy and seemed happy to see me. They should, because I feed them lots of corn and bread.
Feed them corn and bread you say! Did you really think I meant they were people?! I'm just kidding and I don't feed them, so that they won't get too comfortable around people. You see, during mating season, a pair of Mallard Ducks come to our house everyday and sit on the ledge of the pool. Not everyone likes wildlife in their yard. But I seem to attract it. Don't go there...! I don't care as long as it's not a Grizzly Bear or something like that. Not that we have Grizzly Bears around here, maybe a Coyote or three or a few Raccoons.
The ducks spend most of the day just hanging around the pool, like a couple of tourists. When it rains, they go for a dip. But not in the pool. On the pool's cover! There's usually more than a few inches of water on it. If we get enough rain, a lot of water collects and then they'll have enough water to go for a swim. I don't think they care whether or not it's a pond or a pool. I don't think it matters. They have to know it's not a pond. Do they? They certainly can't fish in it, unless something happened out there over the winter that I'm not aware of!
Every Spring they hang around day after day, all day, until she lays eggs. It drives my husband crazy. You know his wife won't let him scare them. Not when she's got a nest somewhere. They only fly away if you get too close. You can see by the pictures that they let me get really close. They've gotten used to this pesty human who talks to them. They probably are telling me when they quack, to just leave food already and get the heck out! The female used to make a nest in my front flower bed. Until a fox ate some of the eggs. Now she hides it so well I'm not sure where it is. I'm sure if I get too close, one of them will dive bomb me. They are sweet birds until you scare them or threaten their eggs. A couple of years ago I was up at the crack of dawn feeding the fish in our pond. That's a long story I'll share another day, it's just a little pond. Everything on land and water went fishing there, so I gave up on having fish.
Well anyway, I was feeding the fish and I heard this loud quacking and another sound I'd never heard from ducks before. I see the female Mallard flying sort of low. Right behind her is a little Red Fox. No, not the guy from 'Sanford and Son'. I wasn't even aware that we had foxes in this neighborhood, until that day. All the noise and ruckus was coming from Mr. Mallard who was right behind the fox! He was flying so low to the ground that he could have been running on the ground. Did you ever see a duck run fast? Neither have I. It was hard to tell who was chasing whom. It's amazing what you might see when the sun first comes up. I really wished I had my camera with me. Now when I'm out early I try to bring it with me. You never know when a duck might be chasing a fox.
