Those Darn Ducks!

See the egg under the henspa? 

Look right behind it. 

That's Cinnamon. 

I have found the duck eggs.   I must have crawled right by them on Friday night. 

Uh huh. 

Notice the hen egg in there?  They were buried in the straw, that's why I didn't see them. 

It was a lovely nest.  Look at all the characters acting like they were NOT watching me. 

Sad, isn't it?  They all have to be thrown out. 

I don't know if you can tell, but I was covered in muck... jeans.... arms... shirt.... it was nasty.  The henyard, even with the covering, is nasty and wet.  Ugh. 

I'm gonna be thinking of moving some ducks to the other side, where they can't get under anything, at the old henhouse.  They could get out into the pasture there, and eat good green grass, too. 

I would have to be sure the pens were coyote-proof, for sure. 

We'll see. 

The potatoes, which were covered with straw last week... grew about 8 inches over the weekend! 

So, they were covered again, and we'll see how long it takes this time. 

At least I had a pretty view while I worked! 

Then neighbor Kathy came out and hollered at me, and I went over to see her absolutely gorgeous clematis, the one plant I have only grown successfully ONCE, at the old Calamity Acres. 

Isn't it pretty? 

Then I heard shrieking from the old henhouse, and I figured I knew why. 

I was right. 

I got that egg, too! 

Mr. T is a black rat snake.  They live under buildings and debris... and they eat snakes, rats, and other small animals.  Yes, they will eat eggs.  They also will kill and eat young chicks and ducklings, which we have found out to our chagrin.  We once had several yellow (Pekin) ducklings that were six weeks old, smothered by a black rat snake, but they were too big for it to swallow.  These snakes can also go up in trees.  They will also bite you if you back them into a corner, and I had a friend who worked in a large poultry operation when he was a kid (50 years ago) and he was bitten constantly when collecting eggs in the afternoons.  No, thanks. 

I check first. 

Now I'm posting early, as I'm off to take Nathan and his mom to dinner and then watch him walk for his 8th grade graduation! 

We are expecting bad weather again this afternoon/evening, so I hope to get the 150 miles down and back again before the storms hit.