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The Parade of Ducks Part I |
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I call it the "Parade of Ducks". My ducks are in a pen with a house inside. There is enough room between the house and the outside of the pen for them to walk. When they are waiting for me to let them out in the afternoon, they parade around the house.
I started out with 2 ducks. Domestic Mallard drakes which we named Daffy and Donald. Ducks are very entertaining. This started 7 years ago when we had work done on our pond and thought it would look good with some greenheads in it. Two years ago, I saw an ad selling drakes and that is how we wound up with Daffy and Donald. They did very well. They had their pen and a baby pool but most afternoons and eventually most of the day, they were out playing around and in the pond. I would check on them periodically to make sure that they stayed there and that the local loose dogs didn't come to visit.
One day, they were out and some geese had come to visit. Well, when the geese started to leave, the ducks started off with them. I called them by name and Donald flew back up and landed in the driveway but no sign of Daffy. The geese had flown down the hill over the road (the opening in all the trees around here). So, I walked to the end of the driveway and then on down the hill, worried that Daffy landed down near the neighbors and their dogs. I kept calling him.
About halfway down the hill, I had to start laughing. Here was Daffy stomping (if a duck can stomp) up the hill, just talking away. I could just imagine how many names in duck language that he called Donald for leaving him alone. He walked all the way up the hill, across the yard and around the pond, still fussing about Donald.
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