We miss our duckling =(

On Sunday, June 7, we said goodbye to our little duckling friend Tweakers. I didn't expect it to be as difficult and upsetting as it was. We had her for 4 weeks at that point, and I guess I didn't realize how attached I had become until it was time to let her go...but at the same time, I know we did the right thing.

Our cute little baby duckling was very quickly becoming an actual duck. Every morning we would wake up to find her looking completly different then she had the day before. She was learning new things so quickly, and we were so amazed that we didn't have to teach her anything. By the time a duckling is only a few days old, it can eat on its own, catch live crickets, swim both above and under water, groom itself, and follow its mother. In comparison, human babies are pretty pathetic! We were having a blast watching her grow up and feeling like proud parents for keeping Tweakers so alive and healthy when she wasn't supposed to last more then a few days. We love how attached she was to us; she loved to sit and cuddle with us while we watched movies and she would follow us around as if we were her actual parents.

At the same time, we knew it wasn't going to be long until Tweakers would need to be released into the wild. She was a messy little thing that only got worse as she got bigger. She was rapidly outgrowing her cage and the bathtub. I had been taking her to work with me so I could feed her, water her, and keep her somewhat clean throughout the day. I also didn't want the apartment managers to know we had her, and I worried about the day she would develop an actual quack that our neighbors would surely hear.

So we started looking into options for Tweakers. There was the standard dropping her off at the pond at Sunset Park or Bonnie Springs, but I worried that she wasn't wild enough to be able to take care of herself. Because she was so attached to people, I worried she would follow someone out and get lost or killed by predators. There is an indoor duck pond at Bass Pro Shops that we thought about because of the lack of predators and the fact that she would always have food. But we realized they probably clip their wings, and I wanted Tweakers to be able to fly in the fresh air.

I found Gilcrease Bird Sanctuary online when I typed "Bird Rehabilitation" in Google. My prayers and concerns were answered. This was a place where Tweakers could still get fed and cared for, but with the option of becoming a wild bird if she felt like it. This place takes in rescued birds, whether they are orphans like Tweakers or pet birds that no one wants anymore. After visiting them to make sure they weren't shady, Judd and I decided that this was Tweaker's best option. The gentleman we talked to actually had a group of orphan ducklings that he was caring for. This little group lived in the big pond with the other ducks, but got special attention. We would be able to visit her whenever we felt like it.

So after four fun-filled weeks, we decided it was time. Tweaker's adult feathers were starting to grow in and she was big enough to the point where I felt she was hardy enough to make it on her own. We made the long drive across town. Tweakers was so anxious in the car, so I couldn't wait to put her in the water. We arrived, and they told us to go put her in the pond. We looked around for the right spot and found one in a little stream where some duckings were playing. We kissed Tweakers goodbye and put her in. Rather then swimming away like we expected her too, she ran out of the water right back to us.

So for the next two hours, we kept trying to put her in the water and leave when she wasn't looking. We would go across the pond and watch her try to adjust. Unfortunatly, she kept trying to find us and she succeeded several times. When she couldn't find us, she would try and follow someone else out of the pond. I was getting really frustrated with the visitors who kept stopping to pet "the cute duckling" because then she would try and follow them away and we would have to go catch her and put her back. I was such an emotional wreck too; one minute I would be so happy for her if she did something like swim around for a bit, the next I'd be all teary and upset with the thought of leaving her.

Eventually, it seemed like she was going to be okay. We quietly walked over the bridge and started to head out. Unfortunatly, she discovered us and decided she was leaving too. She got stuck in the fence as she tried to get out. She was crying out and flopping around trying to get to us. That's when I lost it. I grabbed her and started bawling like a baby. I was so sad to leave her, and now I had this fear that she was going to get herself hurt if she kept trying to get out of the fence. The worker assured us that he would watch out for her and Judd handed Tweakers back.

I couldn't sleep that night. I kept having flashbacks and visions in my head of poor Tweakers stuck in the fence. Judd felt pretty sad too, and he made the suggestion that we should visit her the next day just to make sure she was doing alright.

So on Monday, we went back to the Bird Sanctuary. The worker recognized us from the day before and took us to the pond. We scanned it, trying to pick out our duckling among the hundreds of ducks. He then led us to another section of the pond where a group of ducklings were trying to swim up a waterfall. There were many different types in this little group, and they clearly weren't related He pointed out the little mallard on the side and we knew it was ours. She had found some friends overnight, and I was glad they were helping her out. The day before, some other ducklings had tried to befriend her but she was too scared. Now she was swimming confidently with them, eating on her own, and looking like she was having a blast. It was such a pretty day, and I was so happy that she was spending it outside in a pond with other ducks rather then inside in a kennel. We felt good about our decision, so we just watched her for a while. We knew we were going to miss her, but at the same time, we were glad for her.

So now I'm compiling all these pictures and video clips (which is a ridiculous amount!) I have of her into one big video. It was such a great experience and I don't want to forget it. Obviously, I'll post it when I have it done!

So for our first parenting experience, I think we did a great job!