Tweeters,
Burt's story reminded me of a similar situation in my back yard. I had
just started feeding back yard birds and lots of Mallards spent the
winter dining on my offerings of cracked corn. I had one pair in
particular that were very tame, he walked with a limp maybe that's why he
was willing to eat out of my hand, I was amazed at how soft and warm
their feathers were. Well after a few months of hand feeding this pair i
had high hopes that in the spring they would bring their family to my
back yard. I kept an eye open but no baby ducklings, then one day I saw a
single fuzzy baby running all over around my yard, no parents in sight. I
had no idea what to do. I called Wild Birds Unlimited , they suggested I
get a shoe box and catch it and take it to PAWS. when I got off the phone
I went out to look for the duckling. I chased it around for a while then
he evaded me so I gave up the search the next time I looked out the
window I saw a crow sitting on top of my snag having duckling for lunch,
it was sickening to watch.
PS my pair of mallards never came to eat out of my hand again.
Linda Phillips