Monday, July 16, 2007

The Hunted and The Hunter

First I want to reassure those of you who have been wondering about me; I am fine. Life remains very busy, and I had family here visiting from Oklahoma, but I have a little more time in the next few days so perhaps I will be able to catch up!

This first picture is not one I took. I found it on Flickr and it was taken by someone named KURTQ. I was not able to catch the mother duck and her ducklings as they were being hunted by my dog, Prancer.




Actually that is not quite accurate! Prancer was crying at the door to go outside, and I assumed she had to go out for the normal reason house dogs cry at the door to get out. Little did I know that about six feet outside that door a mother duck was taking her six ducklings for a walk. I let Prancer out and she took off like a shot! Only then did I see the momma and her babies running as fast as their little legs could carry them for shelter. The momma duck took flight and flew a few feet away. I think it might have been a ploy to get the dog to run after her and leave the ducklings alone. I yelled at the dog to come back, but she either didn't hear me because she was intent on the ducklings or she chose to ignore me. I called again! She stopped and that afforded the ducklings a chance to catch up with their momma.

Then I noticed Prancer was sniffing and sniffing the grass. At first I figured it was because she was smelling where they had been. I hollered at her again to come back and she picked her head up and looked at me and only then did I see a duckling with ruffled feathers running towards the rest of them. I hollered again for the dog and she did come to me and I hastily ushered her inside and then went back outside just in time to see the momma herding all the ducklings underneath the neighbors deck and out of harms way of Prancer. Prancer is NOT a hunting dog. Although she has killed three woodchucks and two moles in the last year, I don't think she would have hurt the ducklings on purpose. I think she would have tried to play with them and the way she does that is to slap things with her feet, which probably would have killed them. In any event, she came in and the ducklings were all safe.....for now at least!


What I wish she would chase is the bunny rabbits. They are eating all my flowers. Does anyone know a way to keep bunny rabbits out of the flower garden?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love little bunnies! I didn't know bunnies ate flowers though. But, I do recall my bunny eating carpet. LOL Your dog has beautiful eyes!

Glad you are able to spend so much time with family. I've not had much to type about. But, I'm still here. Hugs! :)

Lori said...

I don't know about the bunnies. We have so many kitties, THEY keep our bunnies out. Now I have to find a way to keep their little paws on the grass and out of my flowers!

Glad to see you here again!

Jon said...

Enjoyed visiting your interesting blog, and loved the picture of the duck family! Keep up the good work.
Best regards,
Jon on 7-22-07

clew said...

I've heard that sprinkling some cayenne pepper in your flowerbed will keep the little bunny munchers away. Hope that helps!

I always forget to check this blog since I have the other one blogrolled. I miss you!!!

Martie said...

I have heard about the cayenne pepper too, but the bunnies around here must be from south of the border....they seem to like their flowers spicey! We ended up using some deer and rabbit repellent powder and that has worked for right now! Thanks for the pepper tip though. Miss you too, dear!

HUGS

Oldqueen44 said...

I read all the blogs here on up.
The deck looks great. You will have such nice times sitting out there. It looks like you live in a lovely open area.
Boo Hoo - over the hubby story and grandchild 15. Have a good day.