Miracle had spent all night alone in her cage through the rain. The roof over the cage kept some of the rain out. The little hamster hut over the hot rock kept her cotton rag dry. When she heard the other ducks come to bathe, she called out to them to come rescue her. Over and over, she chirped a call. She really wanted to be with them. Miracle could hear her mother's voice. But they left without her, stuck in her little cage. By dawn, she began calling for someone to let her out.
Finally, the human came and opened the door. Usually, the human would pick Miracle up, but today, the door was flung open. At first, Miracle just hurried to the far corner of the nursery fold and called out for her mother. After a while, she wandered over to the pool to have a drink. The water had the delightful taste of a light touch of duck poop. She hopped up the ramp and jumped in. That's what began for Miracle the most wonderful day of her life.
It lightly rained all day. Ducks love rain. Between the warm showers were sunny skies. Miracle swam most of the day in the pool, sometimes bathing, sometimes preening, sometimes shooting rapidly below the surface, sometimes just lolling around. In between, she sunned herself on a cinder block feeling satisfied and sleepy. She spent the whole day in the warm sun and delightful rain.
Late in the afternoon, Miracle woke up from a nap mighty hungry. Her scratch bowl was gone! The last time she saw it was in the terrarium in the kitchen. She walked over to the porch by the door and started calling for the human to bring her scratch bowl. Instead of bringing the bowl, the human came to get Miracle. Something inside her was terrified of the monstrous human, and she escaped! She really wanted the mighty hand to pick her up but she couldn't control herself. She ran into her cage and cowered behind the hamster hut. Cornered, Miracle was captured by the mighty hand.
The hand placed her in the terrarium in the kitchen, where she indeed found her bowl. Boy! Was she hungry! She gorged herself on grain and sips of water until she slept quietly all through the human's wellness dinner and presentation. Miracle felt lonely when she woke. She tried to stand up in the terrarium, but it seemed to have shrunk. She needed to crouch her head down a little in order not to hit the ceiling screen. She could hear the humans talking somewhere else. So she made a fuss until someone came. The human wrapped Miracle in a cotton flannel rag and carried her out to another room where humans were sitting on a long chair covered with cotton cloth. She squirmed around in her flannel swaddling. This place looked interesting and she wanted to explore. The hand spread out the cotton flannel on the cushion and let Miracle out on the couch. She may be the first duck to sit on a living room couch.
Finally it was time for bed. The human carried Miracle out to her cage with the hot rock covered with cotton cloth inside a hamster hut. She had had a long, marvelous day, and was weary and ready to sleep. It had certainly been the most wonderful day of her life.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Miracle's adventure with a gaggle of little humans
Miracle is three weeks old and double in size. He likes to sit on the hot rock in his cage. The human put a cotton rag over the rock to make it more comfortable. Yes, Miracle's life has grown extraordinarily comfortable for a duck.
After sleeping in the cage all night on the hot rock, enclosed with cardboard to discourage drafts, Miracle wakes up every morning very cold. He starts to call for help, but no one comes. He calls louder and louder until the human comes out in bathrobe and slippers, and opens the cage door. Miracle is ambivalent about the monstrous human. As frightening as is her size and species, he considers that she still hasn't eaten me. In fact, she is kind of nice to me. I really want her to pick me up but she is so scary! Miracle hovers in the far corner as the giant arm and hand get closer to grab him. At the last minute, he bolts trying to escape the grasp. The hand shoots out to subdue and grasp little Miracle, and he is caught at last.
Chirping with fear, Miracle tries to escape, but the strong hands are already restraining his tiny wings in cotton rag swaddling cloths. Wrapped like a newborn, the human stuffs Miracle into her shirt. He has grown accustomed to the sound of her heartbeat and the rise and fall of her chest. It is comforting and warm to squeeze up into her sleeve or into the side of her neck. The heavy pulsing of her giant blood vessel lulls Miracle to sleep. He feels safe in her clothes.
Every day, the giant human fills a shiny white porcelain basin from a silvery spigot with warm water for Miracle's bath. This is his favorite time of day. The human tosses torn up green leaves into the water. Miracle eats them like a child eating Halloween Candy. When his sides are ready to burst, Miracle starts his bath.
The bath always begins with a head dunk followed by a splash. Dunk, splash, dunk. splash, dunk. splash. Then balance on one foot while the other vigorously scratches the oil glands on the sides of Miracle's face. Another dunk and rub, rub, rub the oil all over the feathers. Dunk, splash, scratch, dunk, splash and rub, over and over, left and right, back and breast, neck and butt. After every part has been oiled, it is time to preen the feathers. But Miracle hardly has any feathers. Save for the few tiny feathers sprouts protruding from his tail, he is covered over with yellow fuzzy down. Feathers or down, they all get the oil treatment and preening. After the bath, the human wraps Miracle in a clean, cotton cloth, and stuffs him back into her shirt.
One day, the human took Miracle into a giant humming thing and we went far away. Miracle was stuffed into a sock so that only his head could be seen. The human went walking around a place with lots of smaller humans, who all made sounds when they saw Miracle. They said, "Aw-w-w-w" and wanted to pet him. All the kindergarten children sat calmly along the wall in the hallway and petted his head, one by one. Although it was really scary to be around all those humans, Miracle felt safe in the hands of the usual human, the one that puts him in her chest.
Every time Miracle felt like pooping, he would squirm around and make a fuss. The human would put him down into a spigot place, and he would let it all out. There were often cups and bowls filled with water for a little drink. Then the human would make the silvery spigot release water, and wash all the baby duck poop down the drain. Miracle never messed his comfy cotton cloths or the cloths that the human wore.
After several hours, Miracle was exhausted. There was no grain to eat at this place. Miracle got to taste some lovely sweet fruits, but didn't want to eat much of them. With all the little humans petting him, and the absence of food, Miracle couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. He lay his head down and fell asleep. The human put him on her chest inside her shirt, and he fell into a deep sleep. The next thing he knew, he was home and being expelled from the sock into his nice cage. What an adventure!
After sleeping in the cage all night on the hot rock, enclosed with cardboard to discourage drafts, Miracle wakes up every morning very cold. He starts to call for help, but no one comes. He calls louder and louder until the human comes out in bathrobe and slippers, and opens the cage door. Miracle is ambivalent about the monstrous human. As frightening as is her size and species, he considers that she still hasn't eaten me. In fact, she is kind of nice to me. I really want her to pick me up but she is so scary! Miracle hovers in the far corner as the giant arm and hand get closer to grab him. At the last minute, he bolts trying to escape the grasp. The hand shoots out to subdue and grasp little Miracle, and he is caught at last.
Chirping with fear, Miracle tries to escape, but the strong hands are already restraining his tiny wings in cotton rag swaddling cloths. Wrapped like a newborn, the human stuffs Miracle into her shirt. He has grown accustomed to the sound of her heartbeat and the rise and fall of her chest. It is comforting and warm to squeeze up into her sleeve or into the side of her neck. The heavy pulsing of her giant blood vessel lulls Miracle to sleep. He feels safe in her clothes.
Every day, the giant human fills a shiny white porcelain basin from a silvery spigot with warm water for Miracle's bath. This is his favorite time of day. The human tosses torn up green leaves into the water. Miracle eats them like a child eating Halloween Candy. When his sides are ready to burst, Miracle starts his bath.
The bath always begins with a head dunk followed by a splash. Dunk, splash, dunk. splash, dunk. splash. Then balance on one foot while the other vigorously scratches the oil glands on the sides of Miracle's face. Another dunk and rub, rub, rub the oil all over the feathers. Dunk, splash, scratch, dunk, splash and rub, over and over, left and right, back and breast, neck and butt. After every part has been oiled, it is time to preen the feathers. But Miracle hardly has any feathers. Save for the few tiny feathers sprouts protruding from his tail, he is covered over with yellow fuzzy down. Feathers or down, they all get the oil treatment and preening. After the bath, the human wraps Miracle in a clean, cotton cloth, and stuffs him back into her shirt.
One day, the human took Miracle into a giant humming thing and we went far away. Miracle was stuffed into a sock so that only his head could be seen. The human went walking around a place with lots of smaller humans, who all made sounds when they saw Miracle. They said, "Aw-w-w-w" and wanted to pet him. All the kindergarten children sat calmly along the wall in the hallway and petted his head, one by one. Although it was really scary to be around all those humans, Miracle felt safe in the hands of the usual human, the one that puts him in her chest.
Every time Miracle felt like pooping, he would squirm around and make a fuss. The human would put him down into a spigot place, and he would let it all out. There were often cups and bowls filled with water for a little drink. Then the human would make the silvery spigot release water, and wash all the baby duck poop down the drain. Miracle never messed his comfy cotton cloths or the cloths that the human wore.
After several hours, Miracle was exhausted. There was no grain to eat at this place. Miracle got to taste some lovely sweet fruits, but didn't want to eat much of them. With all the little humans petting him, and the absence of food, Miracle couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. He lay his head down and fell asleep. The human put him on her chest inside her shirt, and he fell into a deep sleep. The next thing he knew, he was home and being expelled from the sock into his nice cage. What an adventure!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Miracle's unfortunate accident and resuscitation
Unfortunately, it turned out that L'il Survivor was quacking out the death knell of Whitey, whose carcass was found picked clean by a predator. The human set out a Hav-a-Heart trap to catch the lethal offender. Soon L'il Survivor fully fletched her wings and flew away with her daddy, Mr. Alpha Interloper.
Meanwhile, TanBrow appeared after a long disappearance quacking up a storm in the front garden. The human rose to see what all the commotion was about and saw TanBrow proudly proclaiming the birth of her seven new ducklings. All were fuzzy yellow except one which was black. It wasn't long before a scrawny calico cat ate one of the ducklings. And then there were six.
The human caught four ducklings and put them in a cage with fresh fodder, a bowl of water and another of baby scratch. Two ducklings were too fast and ran through the fence onto the next block. By the time the human returned from searching the next block and the adjoining empty field, the ducklings had made their way back to the nest. With the help of a young friend, the last two were caught and placed safely into the cage with their siblings.
The human wanted to catch TanBrow and keep her with her babies. But TanBrow had other plans. She had become a master of escape, which attests to her survival to this day. TanBrow can either fly over low fences, lift the poultry netting up and slip under it, throw her weight against the fence until the staples fall out, our leap onto the top and crush the fencing until it is low enough to fly over. She can squeeze through larger holes in the fence and remember exactly where the larger holes are located. When all else fails, she can lay low in silence, and camouflage herself into the underbrush. TanBrow held escape as a higher priority than mothering her baby ducklings.
Every morning, the human let the ducklings out of the cage to peck and scratch in the nursery fold. The human build a ramp of stone and mud up to the bank of the pond, and kept the pond filled to the top to facilitate the ducklings' exit. The six siblings all rushed in a crowd this way and that, chirping now for their mother, and now for for some juicy insects. Every day they seemed to grow ten percent bigger. There was no specific leader of the group. If one turned to go another way, they all turned to go with him. They cuddled together for warmth and companionship. Sometimes they even walked over each other at rest. They had a good life. The only thing lacking was the attention of their mother.
The seasons were changing and hot weather turned rapidly into cold. The human put an electrically warmed rock into their cage and closed the cage in at night with cardboard and empty feed bags. The ducklings really liked the warm rock. That corner soon became the most frequented part of the cage. Every night when the human drove them all back into the cage, they complied happily to go back to the warm rock.
About a week after their birth, the human left to go to a meeting. The ducklings all decided to go for a swim. The water was a lot colder than they had expected. The cold water robbed them of their energy. They were unable to leap our of the water onto the bank. They chirped frantically for help but no one came, not their mother nor any human. One by one, they gave up the ghost, legs blue, body temperature down, too cold to breathe.
The human came home from the meeting to see lifeless ducklings floating in the pool. She ran for rags and lifted the six freezing ducklings out of the icy water to dry them off. She began CPR on the ducklings, quickly changing wet rags to dry ones and placing the swaddled ducklings on the warm rock. One seemed to move and look at the human.. This one was wrapped and placed inside the human's clothing right over her heart. The human felt this one making tiny movements in her clothes as she pumped away on the chests of the other five ducklings blowing little puffs of air into their nostrils. Again and again the human changed their damp rags and continued chest percussion. Their limp bodies and half-closed eyes never moved again. The human was mortified.
The one in her chest was starting to quietly chirp. It was so weak, it was unable to stand up. After a while in her shirt, and another while on the hot rock, the one survivor could barely hold up its head. After some intensive care, the little yellow duckling was able to wiggle out of the swaddling cloths and stand up and chirp. Considering the miracle of its resuscitation, this duck got named, Miracle.
Meanwhile, TanBrow appeared after a long disappearance quacking up a storm in the front garden. The human rose to see what all the commotion was about and saw TanBrow proudly proclaiming the birth of her seven new ducklings. All were fuzzy yellow except one which was black. It wasn't long before a scrawny calico cat ate one of the ducklings. And then there were six.
The human caught four ducklings and put them in a cage with fresh fodder, a bowl of water and another of baby scratch. Two ducklings were too fast and ran through the fence onto the next block. By the time the human returned from searching the next block and the adjoining empty field, the ducklings had made their way back to the nest. With the help of a young friend, the last two were caught and placed safely into the cage with their siblings.
The human wanted to catch TanBrow and keep her with her babies. But TanBrow had other plans. She had become a master of escape, which attests to her survival to this day. TanBrow can either fly over low fences, lift the poultry netting up and slip under it, throw her weight against the fence until the staples fall out, our leap onto the top and crush the fencing until it is low enough to fly over. She can squeeze through larger holes in the fence and remember exactly where the larger holes are located. When all else fails, she can lay low in silence, and camouflage herself into the underbrush. TanBrow held escape as a higher priority than mothering her baby ducklings.
Every morning, the human let the ducklings out of the cage to peck and scratch in the nursery fold. The human build a ramp of stone and mud up to the bank of the pond, and kept the pond filled to the top to facilitate the ducklings' exit. The six siblings all rushed in a crowd this way and that, chirping now for their mother, and now for for some juicy insects. Every day they seemed to grow ten percent bigger. There was no specific leader of the group. If one turned to go another way, they all turned to go with him. They cuddled together for warmth and companionship. Sometimes they even walked over each other at rest. They had a good life. The only thing lacking was the attention of their mother.
The seasons were changing and hot weather turned rapidly into cold. The human put an electrically warmed rock into their cage and closed the cage in at night with cardboard and empty feed bags. The ducklings really liked the warm rock. That corner soon became the most frequented part of the cage. Every night when the human drove them all back into the cage, they complied happily to go back to the warm rock.
About a week after their birth, the human left to go to a meeting. The ducklings all decided to go for a swim. The water was a lot colder than they had expected. The cold water robbed them of their energy. They were unable to leap our of the water onto the bank. They chirped frantically for help but no one came, not their mother nor any human. One by one, they gave up the ghost, legs blue, body temperature down, too cold to breathe.
The human came home from the meeting to see lifeless ducklings floating in the pool. She ran for rags and lifted the six freezing ducklings out of the icy water to dry them off. She began CPR on the ducklings, quickly changing wet rags to dry ones and placing the swaddled ducklings on the warm rock. One seemed to move and look at the human.. This one was wrapped and placed inside the human's clothing right over her heart. The human felt this one making tiny movements in her clothes as she pumped away on the chests of the other five ducklings blowing little puffs of air into their nostrils. Again and again the human changed their damp rags and continued chest percussion. Their limp bodies and half-closed eyes never moved again. The human was mortified.
The one in her chest was starting to quietly chirp. It was so weak, it was unable to stand up. After a while in her shirt, and another while on the hot rock, the one survivor could barely hold up its head. After some intensive care, the little yellow duckling was able to wiggle out of the swaddling cloths and stand up and chirp. Considering the miracle of its resuscitation, this duck got named, Miracle.
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