Unwelcome visitors

These turned up in our backyard yesterday. This is the third time this has happened in the past year. A duck has decided that our backyard and pool are the perfect nesting venue for his wife (wives?) and children.

It was cute the first time. Now it's just annoying. They pollute our pool and nothing we have tried to get rid of them has worked. We now have to consider more expensive solutions, like a pool blanket or a dog. Pros and cons with both of these.

So yesterday I called the wildlife rescuers yet again to come and take them away. The ducklings aren't so hard to catch. The mother duck is a different story. She gets very aggressive when cornered. The father duck has usually disappeared from the scene by the time the babies arrive so he doesn't ever get caught.

I asked the guy who came around whether these ducks (Pacific black ducks for anyone who's interested) mate for life. He thought they did. So either the male is finding the female again when they get relocated or he is just shacking up with someone new each time. I asked him if he would take them a long way away to see if that works. He gestured vaguely over his shoulder and said "I'll just take them over the back here."

My bet is that we'll have more of them by Christmas.