Jessie is a duck being cared for by our good friends at Carolina Waterfowl Rescue. Jessie needs several more surgeries on his legs to help him have the best life possible, after severe neglect and abuse. Jessie was dropped by kids like a toy. And when he was “broken,” his family took him to a vet to be euthanized. This is just one of the many terrible, terrible tragedies that happen when people treat animals like disposable toys. Jessie–and all animals–deserve so much better from us.

If you are in a position to help with Jessie’s surgery bills, you can donate at Carolina Waterfowl Rescue’s website here:

http://www.carolinawaterfowlrescue.com/donate.html

Everyone at Flapper’s house wishes Jessie, and all the feathered friends at Carolina Waterfowl Rescue, all the best.

XOXOX

“She even brought us some lettuce treats, which I think I will have for breakfast.”

“Chewy is normally pretty shy, but he let Marlys hold him and pet his beak. Then he ate some peas from her (he doesn’t like Cheerios like I do).”

That’s right, Flapper. We spent a nice evening with our friend Marlys who was in town for a conference. You may remember her from a previous blog post where we did a long-distance caruncle reading for her muscovy Max. Here is a link to that post:

http://mrflapper.com/blog/2008/09/02/maxs-caruncle-reading/

Special thanks to Marlys for bringing great treats (for the ducks AND for the human). It was great to finally meet you in person and share stories. Come on back any time!

We highly recommend the book “Wesley the Owl” by Stacey O’Brien. It’s one of our all-time favorites.

Thanks to Lori for sharing the link.

As you can see, the honey is “top secret.”

Toni runs a blog called City Bees. If you click the link, you’ll see when it comes to bees, she’s pretty well connected.

She used to keep her urban beekeeping pretty quiet. But now that the White House has raised the profile of area beekeepers, she was even featured in an article in the Washington Post.

“The Perfect Pursuit In This Urban Hive”

Thanks to Toni for the super-tasty honey. It made for a great breakfast this morning!

Let’s see what’s inside!

It’s a handmade goose necklace. I love it.

Will you try it on for me, Meelee?
“Sure. Anything as long as you stop giving me pills.”

No promises on the pills, Meelee. But you look great! I’m going to try it on Flapper though, since he is my regular jewelry model.

“How do I look?”

Oh, Flapper. You’re so handsome! Super cute, buster.

“I thought so. Thanks, Mom.”

Christy Robinson has many other beautiful animal-friendly jewelry designs. You can find her work on her website at http://www.christyrobinsondesigns.com.

“La, la la la… la la… la la laaaaaaaaa!”

Wow! Petunia that was a beautiful song!

We’re going to dedicate your song to our friend Spirit in the Netherlands.

She was feeling under the weather, but we hear she is feeling better now.

Spirit? These flowers are for you, sweet girl. We’re so happy you’re doing better.

XOXOX

Tiff, Petunia and the flock

After a quick ride…

…we arrived on the island.

Their forever home isn’t far from the ferry terminal… about ten miles or so. We drew up some simple background information and instructions for Sam & Lily, so their new humans would know all about them. We also took Lily’s nest with us so she can settle in tonight. Sam goes wherever Lily goes, so that’ll be a comfort to him, too.

Lily started off by looking for bugs.

Sam surveyed the pool and inspected the perimeter to take a count of all animals in the vicinity (he’s a pretty serious duck). Once he had the lay of the land, he started making friends.

Their new home has a silver appleyard girl duck just like them. Here you can see Sam checking her out. Her name is Clay. That’s Lily’s butt up close on the right. Clay clearly has Sam’s attention though.

With Lily distracted by some corn treats, Sam could make his move on Clay. Check out the teenager duck on the right as well. That’s Clay’s kid. We think she’s a girl. She was hatched and raised by a chicken, and is just now learning to be a duck.

I think her name is Chuck (chicken and duck).

In addition to Clay and Chuck, there are some chickens and some new additions to the feathered family.

“You’re a funny looking duck.”
“I’m a turkey.”
“Oh.”

I’ve vowed to return to visit that cute turkey when s/he grows up, and to check in on Sam & Lily too. Their new home also includes a few cats and dogs, and two humans who are both high school teachers.

After a goodbye hug from Lily, I was on my way. In this photo you can see the string system above the entire yard that keeps the ducks safe from eagles and hawks. They’ll also have a predator-proof night pen. It’s a good set-up and we’re happy that Lily & Sam have a big family including some silver appleyards just like them.

Their new home has promised to send updates and photos in the future so we can keep track of how they’re doing. I feel really good about their new home and know they’ll do well there. It always makes it easier to say goodbye when you find the right home.

Best of luck, Sam & Lily. You be good and take care. I love you!

XOXOX

NOTE: THIS IS NOT OUR HOUSE. Our human is not THAT kookoo (but close).

He likes to stand right in the middle of the sprinkler to doodle in the mud and cool off.

Sam hadn’t played in the sprinklers before, so he stood guard to make sure everything was on the up and up.

Once he decided the scene was clear, he doodled in the puddles like a champ.

And then he chased Chewy just for fun.

Flapper shook off the sprinklers…

And then had a good flap.

Sam did some flapping, too…

…in both directions for good measure.

Nice flapping, Sam. You look super cute in the sunshine.
“Thank you, treat lady.”
Oh! I’ve been upgraded from mean lady who took you to the vet. That’s good!

Toony hung out on the deck and did a little yoga stretching.

Then she hung out in the aviary with O’Malley.

And ate some bugs and weeds.

She has laid 2 eggs so far this week. That’s pretty good, and we haven’t taken her for an x-ray because she seems to be doing well all on her own. You can see the egg on the right is a little odd in shape. But the 2nd egg looks much more normal, so we hope she is just fine.

Lastly, O’Malley was nice-enough to point out this fuzzy caterpillar to me, and I was able to get him before he became duck food. We released him in the duck-free zone. O’Malley wasn’t sure if he wanted to eat him anyway, as he was pretty fuzzy.

It was a good weekend all in all, for ducks and caterpillars alike.

_________________________________

In other news, I’ve started receiving a deluge of emails and notes about Joel the Spokane banker who catches ducklings as they jump off ledges. This is Joel’s SECOND year helping a mother duck and her ducklings make it safely from the ledge outside his office to the nearby lake. Here’s a link to the video of this-year’s ducklings for your viewing pleasure.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/05/the-duck-parade.html

That Joel, he’s a good egg.