I did a really dumb thing this morning. My neighbor Brenda told me she had seen a mama duck and some babies, that looked about the size of Wade, swimming in the lake in front of my house. I was hoping to see them too and try to get him to go join their little family. So this morning, I saw them swimming around near my house. The babies looked slightly smaller than him but that’s understandable since he’s been eating fortified chick food. I felt positive that he belonged with them, so I made a plan for a reunion.

BIG MISTAKE!

I got him from his pen in my back yard and walked slooooowly toward the mama and babies. At first they were calm and I was hopeful that I could put Wade in the grass and he would run to them in slow motion with touching music playing in the background just like a Lifetime movie. Nope. The duck family turned and ran toward the water. Wade ran toward them and got in the lake but he didn’t swim. He just hovered around the shore looking confused.

Why did they run away?

I knew I wasn’t going to get in that alligator-infested water to catch him so I got on my phone and asked for help on my neighborhood FB page. Meanwhile two giant fish started swimming toward him and I was ready to watch a horrible scene unfold in front of me! Fortunately the fish scared Wade and he scrambled out of the water onto the shore. Whew! But he was still in danger since he was all alone and I couldn’t catch him by myself. Soon a friend (JoAnne) drove by and I flagged her down. We kept him from running away from us but we still couldn’t catch him. Soon a neighbor (Rex) came flying up on his golf cart with a fishing net! Jim had not gone to work yet and I called him to help as well. He was trying to throw a beach towel over him. Between all four of us we had success!

Rex to the rescue!

We put him back in his pen with his baby pool and all seems fine now. I hope his adventure didn’t traumatize him too much. While he was in the water he did seem to be enjoying himself, paddling around, pecking and grass and bugs. But he’s too young to be out there alone, so I’m not going to try any more reunions for a while.

I need to mention that shortly after he was rescued, several neighbors kept coming up with nets to try to help me catch him. I continued thanking everyone who showed up until it was clear that they had seen my new post that he had been saved. What a place we live in. What wonderful, kind folks surround us.  Thanks Waters pals. Wade sends Quacky gratitude.

Can I just live here PWEASE?

Yes, Wade. No one will object if you live here. You are NOT a “poultry”. Is he? 😦