The Big Release

Those sweet little ducklings that we got from my parents on Easter grew. And grew. And grew! It was amazing to watch them! We planned a big 'duck release' on May 10th and invited the neighborhood to come and check it out. Our friend, and accomplished soloist, Clay, was even here to sing a little 'Free Bird' in honor of the event. In my mind, I had pictured us lifting the 9x9 pen, the ducks immediately seeing the lake and waddling as fast they could to get there and be free. That's how I thought it would go ... boy, was I wrong!

here they are, all grown up ... l to r: Butterball, Hunter & Blackman

Bowdie lifted the pen up to let them go ... they had a pretty large audience ... notice the baby pool - they had time to practice being ducks in the water before the release ...

let the traumatizing begin ... Batman (aka Jacob) chased them wildly toward the lake ... bless their hearts, they had no choice to but run for their lives!

getting closer to the water ...

almost to the edge, but notice they aren't even looking at the lake ...

ahhh ... the edge must have yummy stuff to munch on ... feet are almost in the water ...

getting in ... YAY ... thought we had experienced success ...

BUT ... they promptly came back up in the yard ... so Bowdie and the guys moved the pen down toward the water and guess where the ducks went??

back inside ... by choice ... notice the gate is wide open ...

the culprits to all of this hooplah ... my parents, the duck givers ... my brother-in-law (who received 4 ducks on Easter) says that the gloves are off ... hmmmm ... what can we cook up for pay back??!!

P.S. It has now been 3 weeks since the release. The ducks are still in the yard and rarely in the water. They really aren't a bother at all, except when they head for the garden ... which we busted them doing a couple of times. Remember, we have a neighbor who is VERY protective of his mother's garden - he guards it with firearms. In fact, I haven't seen Hunter today, which is weird ...