Having your own property with Backyard Wildlife is at times complicated...
It is heartbreaking to see some 40 ducklings vanish within days, from a long row of 13 to 3 and then 0...
Kwekkie the Mama duck, never gave up and started all over.
We have raccoons, hawks, owls, snapping turtles, foxes...
We both speak Dutch in video, but you can use the YouTube version and find the clickable points written below, with English text.
We always sent my Parents this kind of written letters home, so they could see and hear us.
Kwekkie happily on our pond with 7 of her ducklings... I've seen that the big Eastern River Cooter did pull down one of the tiny ducklings while they were eating cracked corn near the pond's edge.
Eastern River Cooter ←click link
Yes, they occasionally eat other things then just aquatic plants.
Sure, they ate all our water lilies and lotus flowers too.
River Cooter Pseudemys concinna - diet ←click link
The species P. concinna is highly omnivorous and will eat anything, plant or animal, dead or alive. Diet seems to be determined by available food items. While some writers feel that this species of turtle will not eat meat, predatory behavior has been observed.
Yep, I've seen it with my own eyes!
Let's forget the nasty killing... No fun to do and while patrolling early morning at 6:00 AM that was not a happy start of the day for me.
But in the evening I cooked us a good dinner and dessert I still had plenty left from our High Tea two days earlier.
Uncle Bo Whaley and Delores viewing some of our photos in the veranda, after dinner.
Miss my Uncle Bo and he's already 15 years in heaven...
The Polka Dot cotton pique skirt pants I'm wearing is one of my own sewing creations.
This was an empty whole milk plain yogurt container with cream on top...
Pieter's brother Toon, the ex Marine, shot through and next his brother Pieter (my husband) an ex Military guy shot through the very same hole!!!
Vedders are sharp shooters and don't mess with their wife either... 😏
Several years later, Pieter shot a huge snapping turtle that constantly knocked down the rocks from the island, that Pieter had built for placing the fountain inside.
On the video from Middle Georgia Magazine you could see it in working.
Related links:
Our Garden at the Time we had Access to Spent Mushroom Compost | video showing fountain on rock island on our pond
{White Waterlily Nymphaea odorata in our Pond} | showing the big mama turtle
{TURTLE} | Showing the big mama turtle
{Ducks in Our Pond} | previous post by me
{Our TURTLE KINDERGARTEN} | previous post by me
High Tea Prepared and Baked by Me | previous post by me and from which we had dessert left over...
Cleaning Our Pond and Fountain | previous post by me
Hello Mariette, That is the problem with attracting wildlife to your yard--the not so desirable species come along and cause problems. Do you have skunks in Georgia? In Ohio, those would be one of the problematic species. Like raccoons, they like to explore garbage, but then if dogs bark at them they spray them. Also, small animals like chipmunks are very cute, but they cause a lot of damage with their burrows. Of the animals you mention, snapping turtles are the ones I would most like to get rid of--they pose the greatest danger, and especially children might not distinguish them from the friendlier sorts of turtles.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Dearest Jim,
DeleteIndeed, wildlife is a mix of good and evil in all sorts and forms.
We personally have never seen, nor smelled skunks, only shrews but they're so tiny.
Burrows are a constant concern but guess we got rid of the snapping turtles. One time when our kittens were still little (like small snacks to such a snapping turtle), Pieter had one in the creek while working on one of the bridges. It hung on Pieter's towel (for wiping his sweat...) and did not let loose. Not a full size yet. That scared us and luckily the kittens remained at a respectable distance! Guess they know better than we humans what to trust and what not.
Little children also could be in danger. In my first months in Georgia, I even poked at such a big snapper as he/she crossed the road. Pieter captured it on still film. Later my American 'Dad' said: 'What are you doing, poking at a snapping turtle!' It could have snapped off your finger easily. I thought it was a slow moving 'grandpa turtle'... never heard of snapping turtles. But we learned FAST!
Hugs,
Mariette
It's such a shame and heart-breaking to see ducklings being eaten by preying animals. We sometimes find dead birds in our garden who have fallen from their nests. So sad. We get squirrels and hedgehogs visiting too. Plenty of pigeons.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Dearest Victor,
DeleteNature is oh so cruel and it indeed is heart breaking. But we both have learned that however cruel, we still cannot interfere... Others will come in their place and the same pattern continues. Dead birds are sad too, maybe their nest got raided by predators? Hedgehogs we never saw here, something from the Old World I recall.
We only see the mourning doves here.
Hugs,
Mariette
Crikey! No, I wouldn't mess with you! The rifle is a sharp contrast to your cute outfit, Mariette. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could kill anything unless it was life and death (mine or theirs), but I realize that country living is very different from that of urban living. Nature often is merciless, but such is the circle of life. :-/
Anyway, you always were and still are so stylish! Love the cute polka dot skirt/pants (skort?) and the matching shoes! You might be appalled if you saw what I wear all day, now that I'm working from home. Stretchy athletic capris in the summer, with a tee-shirt. But I'm clean! :-P
Dearest Kim,
DeleteWell, I've not 'killed' wearing that outfit but my nightgown... It was at 6:00 AM and I woke up my Pieter with the shot fired. We actually do not live in the country but in the first out of city limits subdivision. It is oh so different from the Old World but indeed being more confronted with the merciless nature is at times hard!
Still have both outfits that I wore in the movie... Both of us do clean up well but during the week we might be wearing all sorts of easy but 'clean' outfits! Just like you.
Hugs,
Mariette
bellissime foto e video!
ReplyDeleteCara Olga,
DeleteGrazie e così voi puoi venire a visitare noi...
Abbracci,
Mariette
Little ducklings have a lot of predators.
ReplyDeleteDearest Anne,
DeleteYes, they sure do but the Mama duck never gave up!
Hugs,
Mariette
Watching you tote that rifle was unbelievable .... decades ago and priceless footage.
ReplyDeleteDearest Helen,
DeleteWell, if I have to, I will and I can!
Hugs,
Mariette
Los depredadores están al hacecho y los pobres patitos no lograron sobrevivir.
ReplyDeleteBesos
Querida Antónia,
DeleteDe hecho, los pobres patitos que sólo servían como comida diaria... También es difícil intervenir, como desgarrador es ver cómo se ataca a esos pequeños. Solo he intervenido una vez; no es divertido tampoco!
Abrazos,
Mariette
Wow, you look quite formidable carrying that rifle around! I enjoyed the video, and what a beautiful backyard pond. It looks like a park!
ReplyDeleteDearest Peter,
DeleteThank you and I seriously meant business but we cannot intervene, how cruel nature at times can be.
Our backyard indeed is like a park and lots of work but we love it.
Hugs,
Mariette