Knotilus Daily Pond ~ Beautiful Sunsets, The Life and Death of Ducks and Gardening Continues

in #gardening2 years ago

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Hey all!

I hope your weekend has been fantastic!

These sunsets are getting pretty amazing! Each one is a masterpiece!

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Friday was a sad day. My poor duck Drakie died. He seemed to be doing better, but then he was just gone. Passed away on the little grassy dock. The mink attack was just more than his little soul could deal with.

I had a good cry and buried him.

I will miss him for sure, he was a fine duck.

Not long after, one of the other duck mommas that was broody and sitting on eggs had a baby chick hatch! After the mink attack we weren’t sure if the momma would go back on her eggs, and the eggs had been left cold for a while in the aftermath, so it was unlikely any would hatch from those eggs at all. But sure enough! Out came a little fluff ball!

The one surviving duckling from the attack seems to be male, he’s got a little tuft on his head so he’s been dubbed Tufty, and his baby cousin is going to be called Hatchy. That momma is still sitting on the rest of the eggs, and Tufty has been snuggling with her and Hatchy instead of travelling the pond with his own mom, he must miss his siblings very much. His aunt doesn’t mind at all and welcomed him in.

Damn mink! 🤬
Might not get so angry if it was at least a native animal, but no, it’s a farm mink, an imported variety just to murder for its fur, and has been accidentally released by the hundreds over the years into the wild here, through sheer negligence.

Such a disgusting industry.

Anyway, that’s my ranting and my duck news for the week!

In more pleasant homestead news, the gardens are growing well, I’ve got lots planted from the greenhouse, making room for the dozens of tomatoes I’ve got growing in there.

This beautiful row of corn is doing great!

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I also finished up some new bracelets this week!

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And I also got my sign painted and the clear coat added on top to seal and protect it. I’ll be doing a pop up stand from time to time in different areas with my creations, hopefully keep selling stuff all summer 💕

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Anyway, take care everyone!
Some MEMES!

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Is the little baby boy duck a descendent of Drakie?

Yes! Drakie was our only male, so they’re both his babies ❤️

Still can’t believe she got anything out of that other nest. She’s been sitting for a really long time.

And I’m glad Tufty is staying in with his auntie and cousin more, I know it’s normal for him to be out swimming with momma and the other females, but there’s so much more danger in the pond.

Mink are excellent swimmers!

One of my crow friends in Germany rescued a fledgling crow and took it to a rehab center. The center also had a mink there, and it broke into the crow enclosure. 😥 They weren't sure how, either.

Wow that’s unreal! Poor crow. ☹️

They’re adorable creatures, but so crafty and bloodthirsty!
Most people here are aware of the danger, but they don’t have nearly as many around as we do.
It’s mainly escapees from the fur farm, which has a long history of ridiculous and negligent practices.

I think if I was living on a fur farm I would probably seek out all the negligence I could to escape, too. But I wouldn't attack people's babies.

I agree!

It’s not just letting them escape, for the first few years they did outrageous stuff, like pile all the dead mink carcasses in a heap and created a plague of flies that attacked the town. It was insane. Like black clouds on peoples houses. People couldn’t go outside.
And even now, when the wind blows from the North all we smell is the stench of mink poop and rot. It’s so bad.

That place makes me all kinds of sad. Some of the escaped mink will walk up to you like a lost puppy, expecting to be fed because they’re so domesticated. Breaks my heart.

So messed up!! I remember reading that a bunch of mink were culled (nice way to misspell killed to make it sound less barbaric) at the beginning of the pandemic because they thought they were carrying coronavirus. The mink industry just needs to be shut down. It's all kinds of wrong.