While Flapper has passed on, there is new life in the yard, and new rescues. So join us at Ducks & Clucks and meet the newest members of our family.

Thanks and quacks!

In case you wonder where your tax dollars go, rest assured, they’re not being wasted on fancy office space for our Representatives and Senators in Olympia.

Here’s Representative Frockt talking to some 4th graders about the legislative process. He took time out of his busy schedule to listen to me talk about HB1813, which is a sham bill that egg producers introduced to keep hens locked in battery cages with less than 67-square-inches of space to live in for their entire lives. That’s less space than a sheet of paper, and it doesn’t allow them to stand up, turn around or flap their wings… ever… for their entire lives of suffering. I hope my representatives, Frockt and Kenney, vote NO! on HB 1813.

Then it was off to the Senate side to meet with Senator Scott White, who was running late because he was entertaining those same 4th graders from earlier in the day. Senator White is a loyal advocate for the animals, and knew almost all we had to say before we even spoke. So we had fun talking about his campaign instead, and how I’d wave to him standing on the corner of Lake City Way & 80th Ave NE every evening on my way home from work. Special thanks to John in his office for squeezing in our time with the Senator, even when he was running behind schedule. We hope we can count on Senator White to vote NO! on SB 5487.

It was a great day in Olympia, and I was happy to be a part of Humane Lobby Day for the animals.

After a bit of a drive back to Seattle, I was home before 5pm, and spent a little quality time with George in the yard.

Then something really special happened.

I brought Flapper and Lester Leroy outside for a little sunshine, and Lester STOOD UP for the first time!

As you remember, Lester has not walked since he arrived here, after being bitten by a dog and suffering from parasites and osteomylitis from not being treated promptly (bone marrow infection). But after twice-daily physical therapy, he is finally sitting better and amazingly, able to stand up! Yay for Lester!

It was a good day for the animals, a good day for the people, and a great day for Lester.

George is on metacam for pain and inflammation, and also on antibiotics. So hopefully the foot is healing well and George will be on the mend very soon. George is getting a little bored being cooped up, but he has some toys, his daily treats, food and a deep water dish and of course his mirror where his goose friend lives. He is a good sport and seems to understand this is for his own good.

We’ll keep you posted on his progress.

Meanwhile, today some friends dropped by to say hello.

Normally we have a few crows in our yard. But today the entire social group dropped by to say hello. There had to be about 100 of them. We really like the crows because they help warn us when raccoons or eagles are in the area. So it was a nice surprise to see their entire extended family together in our yard.

That’s it for today. Keep on honkin’.

Inside the tarp-covered former rabbit hutch (that has never seen a rabbit) we have the power supply for the holiday lights set up on a timer. Holiday lights are on from about 3:30pm to 10pm right now. The plug runs over the deck and through the woods and plugs in inside the house.

Also inside the magic tarp-covered hutch is the raccoon taser system. I like to call it “Bandit Blaster!” We went with a Havahart model because we don’t want to harm raccoons. But we went with medium-duty because we want to hear them swear just a little bit before they run away never to return. You can see three wires coming off the Havahart system. It’s really just two wires, but the ground wire plays two roles.

One end of the ground cable is clamped to this 8-foot long copper ground rod that is pounded into the ground. But because raccoons won’t be touching the ground to complete the electrical circuit and shock themselves, we had to go with a two-wire system at the top of the aviary fence. (Most electric fences rely on the animal touching the ground and the fence at the same time. This won’t protect the top of my aviary unless the raccoons are 8-feet tall. So we had to go with a 2-wire system).

This is the back side of the aviary that backs up to the ivy wall behind our yard. You can see the bottom wire of the two-wire system at the top of the photo. It runs along the length of the back of the aviary and around the corner. This is where raccoons come through the yard as they stop to lounge in the pools and use the aviary net as a hammock.

Here’s the other end. The top wire is the fence hot wire and the bottom wire is the ground wire. When raccoons try to climb up onto the top of the aviary, they touch both wires which completes the electrical circuit and shocks them. BZZZZ!

This is pretty much the model we got, except I bought a much longer ground rod, because I heard that makes it more reliable: http://www.havahart.com/store/pet-dog-supplies/ss-750rpx

With a raccoon taser system in the back and holiday lights up front, the aviary is ready for the dark winter of Seattle. Between the secure night pens, the day aviary with in-ground fencing and top netting, the nitegard lights, the shake-away urine-scented yard spray and now the electric fence… it’s pretty secure around here.

Sleep well, little duckies and cluckies.

We also finally hooked up the Havahart electric fence, too. This means when raccoons try to climb on top of the aviary from the back or side (where they have been seen climbing) they will get a nice shock. It won’t hurt them, but it’ll definitely leave an impression. We hope this will stop them from chewing on the aviary netting and give us even more peace of mind that the ducks and clucks will be okay in the aviary in the winter evenings.

We know it’s working, because we bought the live wire tester. But I guess we’ll know if it’s really working if we don’t find any chewed holes in the net again.

Anything to keep my sweet buddies safe.

It’s been kind of hot in Seattle, so Janet the chicken has been trying to stay cool by fanning out her feathers. She insists it is very civilized, but I think it looks goofy.

Olly Astro thinks it looks a little goofy, too. But it’s pretty hot in Seattle.

So eventually she decided to join in the fun. A nice dust bath didn’t cool her down, but it cleaned her up.

I have been staying cool with fruit icees made from fresh fruit from the local farmer’s market. Olivia shares them with me but the other chickens don’t care for them.

Olivia and Olly Astro still don’t get along too well, but they mostly avoid each other. As you can see, most everyone gets along okay as long as I keep an eye on them.

The hot weather has caused Petunia to start molting. She leaves a pile of feathers everywhere she goes.

She’s still pretty though, even if she’s missing a few feathers.

Simon is doing well. He loves hanging in the yard in the warm weather, and he prefers the heat to the rain.

That’s just about all the updates from here at Flapper’s house. We’re doing a lot of maintenance work on the yard, so we haven’t had much time for the interwebs. We’re having a tree taken out, trimming up the ivy, keeping everything watered and hoping it cools down soon.

We hope you have a good week. Chewy and Olivia send their best. They promise to pose for more photos this week.

And Flapper says, “stay cool.”

It was private when I posted it before, but I think it’s fixed now.

Quack on.

Over an hour later, I returned home and the crows were still at it. By then I could tell they were tracking raccoons, and the raccoons were headed towards my house. So with the ducks safely in their night pens, I sat quietly in the yard and waited to see what would happen.

Pardon my French there at the end of the video.

The above video shows how the crows work hard to protect my ducks from predators like raccoons. They dive and swoop at the raccoons and caw as loud as they can to warn me of the danger. Even the Stellars Jays were helping.

Here is one raccoon in the neighbor’s compost pile. I snapped a few photos over the fence.

The raccoon was turning over the compost pile to eat grubs and bugs. This was just before two raccoons came into my yard.

In my yard, the raccoons stood right on top of Flapper’s night pen and scared Flapper & Chewy who were inside the pen, just below the raccoon. Then they moved along to O’Malley and Petunia’s pen, scaring them as well.

So, what does a raccoon do after eating cherries from all the trees on the block, eating bugs from the compost piles and terrorizing the ducks? Well of course, they sit down on a nice hammock and groom themselves.

This raccoon sat on top of my nice aviary and cleaned his belly and paws. He did not care that I was sitting right there, snapping photos of him. That’s right, he’s using my aviary as a f$#%ing hammock!

Late last week I realized the raccoons had learned how to chew through the aviary netting, and I knew I had a problem. Tonight I saw first hand how brazen and fearless these raccoons are. I have put a call in to the fencing company to see if they can fence in the top of the aviary. I hope they can. The ducks aren’t really safe in the aviary anymore, so they will be in their pens or only out when I’m with them until we find a more secure day-time solution.

As for the raccoons, it is illegal to trap and relocate raccoons. Why? Because raccoons can travel up to 50 miles to try to get back to their home territory. Also, you can inadvertently release them in another raccoon’s territory, causing fights and injuries to them or other wildlife. And while they try to return to their home territory, they are often hit by cars.

You can trap and euthanize them, but even then they will just be replaced by another raccoon, and they are only acting according to their nature. They shouldn’t have to lose their life for that.

These raccoons are too friendly though, which means they are probably being fed by people. This is f#%$ing ridiculous. Do not feed wildlife. Do not leave pet food outside. Do not put out scraps. Secure your trash. Raccoons in the Seattle area have high rates of distemper this year. Do not encourage them with food to reproduce and overpopulate an area. It is bad for them, bad for people and most importantly, terrifying for my ducks. These raccoons are not even remotely afraid of people.

The ducks are safe, and we’ll keep you posted on the fencing of the top of their aviary. Keep your fingers crossed that it can be done quickly and easily. It’s supposed to be a hot week, so I don’t think they’ll like being locked up.

Special thanks to the crows for always being so helpful to my ducks. I love those crows.

Flapper and Chewy settled in for a nap.

And Olivia stalked a beetle.

But wait… who’s this?

The Stellars Jays baby!

The Stellars Jays raised a baby and today he is fledging! They are keeping a close eye on him as he hop hop hops around.

He is a pretty good hopper. He was sitting in the ivy behind our yard or a while.

But a few hops later, he was hiding under the neighbor’s hydrangea.

He is keeping his parents very busy with all of this hopping.

We hope he hopped off to somewhere safe for the night. And hopefully he’ll be flying high in another day or so.

Good luck, Stellars Jay baby! We will call you “Hopper.”

In other news, today we say a sad goodbye to Flapper’s long-distance girlfriend Miss Matilda.

She was a special-needs duck who had a very good life with our friend Terrie. She sent Flapper french fries and notes through the years, and she was a very special girl. We send our heartfelt condolences to Terrie in this time of grief. Rest in peace, sweet Matilda. XOXOX

Good night, opossum.

Later, at about midnight, I had a feeling the opossum had returned. So I turned on the flood light again. This time it was a different opossum, eating a few bits of leftover corn treats the ducks had left behind today at treat time. The little opossum grabbed as much corn as he could before retreating from the flood light into the darkness.

Good night, opossum #2.

I see you. Sweet dreams.