CAPTION THIS!!!

[halt3rtop]

caption this picture!!! this is an old squaw hen, which i found in a snowbank 4 kms north of where i live...she's at a rehab centre now, but i thought this was cute...i'll tell the story after a few captions!

[SHORTFAT]

Soon my Pretty... oooohhhhh.... soooon....

[Wildweeds]

And the hokey pokey goes alittle like this.

[ChetB]

I'm Watching You

[BigJake]

Well you just got to ask yourself one little question, do you feel lucky, well do you punk!

[birdshot]

First the cat, now this!

[Rod W]

"Maybe next year we can make Wildfowl Magazine!" http://www.pluckwitheasypluck.com Scroll to the bottom and click on Wildfowl.com, then click on Video at the top left, then Lake Michigan Long Tailed Duck Hunt

[WFranklinGSP]

Just wait until they turn their backs.

[Runningdog]

mmmmm a quacker for dinner!

[lugmastro]

Why is that in My house? And why hasn't Dad shot it yet?

[halt3rtop]

hahaha! good on ya guys!!! well...i rescued this lil' punk about 2 weeks ago now. first, i pulled into a parking lot where i used to work (currently laid off, seasonal work). co-worker said "hey, how well do you know your bird id's?!" uuuum, i guess i'm ok...so we walked about 50 feet from the vehicle, and there, sitting in a snowbank was this stunning duck i have never ever seen before in my life. my co-worker did not know what to do, and as i raised a farm duck 2 years back, i had some know how on ducks and care. so i ended up putting the duck into a milk crate, and taking it home. you could tell that the duck had been grounded for quite some time. you picked it up, there was 0 meat on its breast, and behind it's legs were somewhat sunken in. despite the bird's condition, it took well to a giant rubbermaid container that we filled with water. and it took next to no time for the duck to become accustomed to human companionship, and destroyed the smelts (dead from last year) and the live minnows we were feeding it. another day rolled by, he seemed to be doing well, drinking and eating like a madman,...and i got a call from a friend. he told me there was a duck sitting in a snowbank about 4 miles north of where i currently live. being he had nose surgury less than a few days before, he couldn't retrieve the duck. so off i went, snowshoes in the car, and met him at the location. when i saw it was a female, i was ecstatic. i've never seen an old squaw duck before in my life,...i have a male, now a hen?! it was quite the site seeing me go after this exhausted hen through a frozen barren swamp...a road less than 50 feet away where my friend and his daughter stood with a blanket, and hundreds of acres of swampland with who knows what lurking beneath the snow. who's gonna give up first, me or this darn duck?! finally, i managed to get her,....i took her home to meet her new buddy....she panicked, she flapped, but you could tell she had 0 strength left in her. when i introduced the male to her, it was kinda a "hey. sup?" thing. she calmed down immediately. the two were happy together. unfortunately the next morning, the male succumbed to his exhausting trip, and passed away. the female however, as spunky and fiesty as she was, was healthy, and eating well. i contacted a local rehab centre, and there they had yet another hen, and a merganser which were found and they were rehabing. i made the arrangements, and she was taken there and did ducky like things. soon thereafter, they were released in lake ontario. georgian bay apparently way out in the open is wintering grounds, or a place for these birds to winter. well, the bay is frozen solid now. we only assume it was a flock looking for open water to winter so they could feed and roost, but soon exhausted and hit the ground. i feel pretty priveledged to have seen and had contact with these birds, as nobody in our area ever sees them, other than maybe 1-2 birds during the fall migration when hunt season is on. although the male passed away due to his condition, like the woman at the rehab centre said "you should feel good knowing you gave him a warm place to rest, and that he did have a full belly as opposed to dying under the power of a fox, or worse." hey, i may be a hunter, but hunters have hearts as well! that photo was taken the morning i was getting her ready to take to the rehab centre. i guess she figured she'd take a walk? man, they're funny lookin' birds on land!! my dog wanted to simply sit and watch her. he never got close enough to touch her, and although well trained, we always kept an eye when the bird was out when we were changing her bedding.

[ChetB]

Great story! Thanks for posting and thanks for once again proving that hunters are also humans ...


Chet