If I had known what I know today, I would have given him a real name. I also would have documented a daily log, or at the very least, a weekly log. I also would have taken "baby" pictures. But I didn't. In my defense, I never dreamed that our relationship would last as long as it did. No, this is not a relationship that is shared between individuals of the human race, but one that began between a human family and one insignificant egg. Shall I start at the beginning? But, of course, I should... because before the egg there was the chicken, or in this instance... a prospective mother wood duck.
Our adventure began sometime in the spring of 2010. For the second year in a row, wood ducks had ventured into our area and this time, they seemed to be staying around permanently. Dale, (or Sig, as I and his family call him) my husband, is a very outdoorsy person and has always spent a majority of his time outside. In saying that, he generally is very aware of all the wildlife. When he related to me that a wood duck couple were checking out holes in the trees, I too tried to be more observant.
I must confess that up until that time, I didn't realize that wood ducks used holes in trees to make their nests. To me, it just seemed odd to see a duck sitting in a tree.... they should be swimming, dipping their heads and skittering around in circles.... in water! But duh! Shouldn't the name wood duck have something to do with wood? Sometimes it takes me awhile to actually get it.
So back to our little couple. The male wood duck is considered to be one of the most beautiful or colorful ducks and as is the case with many of the female species, the little wife was significantly plainer. No matter, the couple needed to find that perfect place to nest their future offspring.
One day soon after their first tree investigation, Sig managed to see the mother duck fly into a hole of a tree about 20 feet from our house and after observing on the sly, we decided that this tree was probably "the nest."
I do a lot of research on the internet, so my job was to get a little more information on the wood duck. We had raised many mallards and knew the gestation of their eggs, but with the wood duck, we were not sure. Even after my research, we still had no idea when the eggs would actually hatch out as the window of hatch was very wide. Usually, what I have always seen in a hatch is just a variance of a day or two. With the wood duck, it was as much as ten days. Without a definite hatch date, we realized we needed to be on guard as much as possible.
I guess anyone who might be reading this is wondering why we were so anxious about the hatch day. Let me explain. We have cats. Cats like wings. All this adds up to tragedy! If we know the approximates, then the felines get to stay inside our shop for a day or two until safety is assured for the winged community.
Days later, we were still under the assumption that the mother duck was still in this tree hole that was 20 feet above ground. Yet, we seldom saw her even though we did see the male duck several times in the creek. It had been so long since we had seen her, we were disappointingly coming to the conclusion that she may have left.... may have been scared away. Based on that so-called knowledge, I informed my husband one evening that I was going to walk down the road and see if I could see any more potential nest trees. Sig and I were sure hoping that she was still around somewhere.
As I started down the road, my two boys, Heath and Aaron, came running up to me. They wanted to know what I was doing, and after stating my intentions they wanted in on the action. Little did we know what sort of action was just seconds away. We hadn't walked 25 feet, when I happened to look up at the tree where I was hoping and wishing that the duck still was. I immediately knew I didn't have to take another step to find her. I knew she was there. I knew this because there was something very different about that tree and because I knew that there was something different, I knew she was inside. Or at least if she wasn't inside, her eggs were still there.... because, there with its head down in the hole and the rest of its long, slinking body hugging the outside of the tree WAS A BLACK SNAKE.
Our adventure began sometime in the spring of 2010. For the second year in a row, wood ducks had ventured into our area and this time, they seemed to be staying around permanently. Dale, (or Sig, as I and his family call him) my husband, is a very outdoorsy person and has always spent a majority of his time outside. In saying that, he generally is very aware of all the wildlife. When he related to me that a wood duck couple were checking out holes in the trees, I too tried to be more observant.
I must confess that up until that time, I didn't realize that wood ducks used holes in trees to make their nests. To me, it just seemed odd to see a duck sitting in a tree.... they should be swimming, dipping their heads and skittering around in circles.... in water! But duh! Shouldn't the name wood duck have something to do with wood? Sometimes it takes me awhile to actually get it.
So back to our little couple. The male wood duck is considered to be one of the most beautiful or colorful ducks and as is the case with many of the female species, the little wife was significantly plainer. No matter, the couple needed to find that perfect place to nest their future offspring.
One day soon after their first tree investigation, Sig managed to see the mother duck fly into a hole of a tree about 20 feet from our house and after observing on the sly, we decided that this tree was probably "the nest."
I do a lot of research on the internet, so my job was to get a little more information on the wood duck. We had raised many mallards and knew the gestation of their eggs, but with the wood duck, we were not sure. Even after my research, we still had no idea when the eggs would actually hatch out as the window of hatch was very wide. Usually, what I have always seen in a hatch is just a variance of a day or two. With the wood duck, it was as much as ten days. Without a definite hatch date, we realized we needed to be on guard as much as possible.
I guess anyone who might be reading this is wondering why we were so anxious about the hatch day. Let me explain. We have cats. Cats like wings. All this adds up to tragedy! If we know the approximates, then the felines get to stay inside our shop for a day or two until safety is assured for the winged community.
Days later, we were still under the assumption that the mother duck was still in this tree hole that was 20 feet above ground. Yet, we seldom saw her even though we did see the male duck several times in the creek. It had been so long since we had seen her, we were disappointingly coming to the conclusion that she may have left.... may have been scared away. Based on that so-called knowledge, I informed my husband one evening that I was going to walk down the road and see if I could see any more potential nest trees. Sig and I were sure hoping that she was still around somewhere.
As I started down the road, my two boys, Heath and Aaron, came running up to me. They wanted to know what I was doing, and after stating my intentions they wanted in on the action. Little did we know what sort of action was just seconds away. We hadn't walked 25 feet, when I happened to look up at the tree where I was hoping and wishing that the duck still was. I immediately knew I didn't have to take another step to find her. I knew she was there. I knew this because there was something very different about that tree and because I knew that there was something different, I knew she was inside. Or at least if she wasn't inside, her eggs were still there.... because, there with its head down in the hole and the rest of its long, slinking body hugging the outside of the tree WAS A BLACK SNAKE.
