Heidi Chronicles: Adventures At the Backyard Buffet

So even water filters can't get rid of all those drugs?
I cringe when I see the scar on that poor little Trouble! Even if he is a brat, I hate to see him injured. I hope it heals completely...and that it doesn't take any more like that to teach him to behave!

Oh my Scutler, I am just LMAO over your toybox dilemma. Who would have imagined at the beginning of this saga when you were worried about being invaded that you would actually be debating the best type of toy box for the babies so that they would not be deprived. Every time I think about it just have to laugh out loud. Are we slightly off center or what??

Ruth,

Bold heading added to guide those who may want to skip to the critter stuff.

The Water Issue
Actually, according to the scientists and officials involved in both the stated water study and the recent one regarding birth control pills, the majority of the residue found in the water is being attributed to that which exits the users system (primarily via urine) unmetabolized. Apparently, it is known (to medical and pharmaceutical researchers, etc) that a certain percentage of a given drug will not be broken down during its path through the body. This amount differs per drug and, of course, varies with circumstances.

Which drugs are most prevalent in your water depend on which drugs your neighbors (the city, not next door) are taking and the rate at which those types of drugs break down. For instance, one very well known Pacific Coast city showed a high level of hormones. While drug residue levels were higher in the water supplies of large cities with a more concentrated population, (surprisingly), even water from deep wells in rural areas tested positive for some drugs.

Although the flushing of unused drugs may contribute to the problem, I doubt that it's a major contributor simply because I imagine that most people (myself included) do the easy thing and just through them in the trash bottle and all. (Sorry, folks. I didn't know this was a problem. Don't hate me. I do recycle religiously, at least for those things I know about like cardboard, junk mail, office paper, cans, glass bottles, paper board boxes, etc.) Flushing requires extra throat and work, so I doubt it's the norm.

Now back to the critters
I really was surprised to see such bizarre behavior from the opossum brigade. To date, I've never seen anything remotely like that from the opossums who usually wait around the fringes for the raccoons to leave before swooping in to clean up the leftovers (hmm, maybe steroids were high in our water that day). Sometimes an opossum may sneak up and try to eat a bit from a dish that isn't being used or may run by for a quick fill up before the raccoons arrive. And every now and then I've seen one test one of the kids, but never such a sustained, all out, and determined insistence on taking the food. You are right though, it failed big time. Seems like the opossums should know better by now because they never win against the raccoons.

I, too, vacillate between denial, hoping HRH will win out, and trying to prepare myself just in case.

Dennis (and Cissy when Dennis is around) is actually far more comfortable with me than I would ever have imagined. I can reach down, pick up his egg, chip the end, and put it back without any reaction. The other day when he was done eating he sat by my leg for a little while almost like a puppy. If he's over across the feeding area somewhere, I can get up and walk all around him and up to him with no reaction. This last maneuver is one of the most difficult for any of the raccoons to deal with, including Heidi. Even those, like Heidi, who will permit me to approach them when I come out with the food, will often then run away if I get up during the meal and approach them. It's very contextual, not cut and dried at all. I can usually get Heidi to stay if I need to get up and walk a bit but only with a lot of cajoling and stepping lightly; whereas with Dennis I can walk around quite normally.

On the other hand, the slightest indication of a neighbor outside will send Dennis over the fence in a flash. Under the same circumstance I may be able to convince Heidi that "it's ok" but not Dennis. He's gone before I can speak. I find this to be an interesting subject both in terms of what it says about us (humans) and them (raccoons). I think we would like to see them in very well defined and easily ordered terms like this one is more comfortable with me and that one is least, etc; but, in fact, rather than a well ordered hierarchy of behaviors, I find them to be a very much interconnected quilt with varied interwoven shades of comfort and acceptance.

I am now very much convinced that Heidi listens to me and recognizes that I am actually telling her something - as opposed to merely making noise. She only responds to her name which she clearly understands to be a call to 'come' and to "it's ok" which she recognizes as an indication that I believe the threat is not a real one. Dennis, on the other hand, while he will climb all around me shows absolutely no indication whatsoever that he even hears me talking to him much less thinks I'm trying to communicate something. He doesn't so much as move an ear. As much as I am convinced that Heidi recognizes that I'm trying to communicate with her, I am equally convinced that Dennis thinks I'm just making random noise which he tunes out just as we might tune out the sound of a barking dog. He's not afraid of me, so he doesn't need to monitor my sounds to determine if it's safe to be around me. So he just tunes me out.

Anyhow, here I go writing a book again.

It's so hard for me to imagine that you guys haven't started the mad spring rush to get the garden in shape. Time has almost run out here. Things are coming in so fast. By this weekend it may already be to late to get into some of my beds to do things. Oh well, some things will just have to wait another year. I'm envious to think you guys still have the whole pre-spring interval ahead of you.

Ruth, go ahead and tell your stories whenever you are ready. I'm looking forward to hearing about those ducklings myself. While I have so much to tell you guys about the goings on in Heidi Land, I have to get to bed now and the next few days promise to be ultra busy for me. I'm scheduled for oral surgery on Thursday and may have time to write (from bed) on Friday if I'm feeling at all well, but can't count on it. Next week I have jury duty, so that should be fun.

Wow, oral surgery and jury duty...hope you get through both relatively painlessly. lol
Thanks for the info on the water contamination. It was actually on the news here tonight, but they said "our" water supply is safe...I don't trust 'em. I shoulda scooped up some of that 11" of snow a couple days ago for boiling. :) It's about gone now, with 40 degree temps. I can't do any "prespring" stuff until the mushy, slushy mess is dried up, though!

KyWoods,

Most filters currently in place filter for pathogens and maybe some heavy metals and such (or not). I'm not sure if it would be feasible or even possible to filter out each and every type of pharmaceutical. The article suggested that reverse osmosis is the only current filtering method that would effectively remove them all but went on to point out that aside from the cost, rev osm yields a few gallons of useless sludge for every clean gallon of water produced. It seems to me that distilled water would also be free from such impurities since that method involves capturing the steam that rises from boiling water and then condensing it back to water, but that method is probably better suited to bottled water than to municipal supplies. Hopefully, now that we are aware of the problem, some brilliant minds will emerge with a solution -- and then in another 30 to 40 years we'll find out what problems the solution caused.

I don't like to see the boys getting all cut up either, but it seems to be a fact of life for males in the wild. I think that nature wisely bestowed them with strong chemicals like testosterone, steroids, etc which appear to mask some of the pain. Even though Trouble's wound may look bad in the pictures, it was already quite well healed over at that time, and is looking even better now. He shows absolutely no sign of suffering. He's not moping about or anything like you might expect if he were hurting. Even when I 1st saw the wound, Trouble seemed quite blissful and upbeat. Even then he was running around the area stealing food, bothering everybody else, and constantly trying to push HRH's buttons; so he couldn't have been feeling all that bad. (Don't mean to sound like i don't feel for Trouble, just trying to make you feel better about the situation - but only by relaying truthful observations, of course.)

LOL, gotta love that Trouble! Thanks for the reassurance that he's fine.

tetleytuna,

You really gave me a laugh with that! Very observant of you , I might add. I didn't figure most people remembered where I came from in this saga - I mean starting from that day when I was jumping around like a gorilla trying to scare Heidi back over the fence and she was hanging off the fence about 1/2 way up looking at me with a face that said "man, humans really are stupid. I wonder if she knows how ridiculus she looks". That was the day I broke the rake while flailing it on the ground trying to scare her and then sailed Widget's soft fabric Frisbee at her (and over the fence into the forest). Those were the days. Yes, I've really evolved since then.

As far as being a little off center, as one of my colleagues pointed out just the other day, it's a good thing I pride myself in being 'unique'. I never aspired to be 'normal' as I figure that's just a synonym for ordinary - and it's a good thing that wasn't my goal in life. LOL

My how Heidi has wrapped me around her finger! I feed her and her kids and her kid's kids, buy them treats and toys, and now I'm looking for a toy box to contain their stuff. Might as well go ahead and build them a house back there, too, don't you think? Oh, wait, this year I need to work on that jungle gym.

KyWoods,

Glad that helped. Also happy to hear that your water is safe.

Ok, now I really, really must get to bed, but 1st I wanted to relay 2 things.

First, Rupert is such a clown! He and his nose are a perfect pair. Earlier tonight at one point he was the only one there, and he had me laughing out loud out there in the backyard - repeatedly. He's getting a little more comfortable around me so he was eating fairly close. I tossed him a large (huge really) grape and, man, did I ever need my camera. The best I can do to describe Rupert with the grape would be to say that he looked like a small dog begging - except that he already had the grape and was eating it but he was standing high up in the air with his nose pointing up at the stars and his paws flailing around in the air as he chewed. I guess that must be raccoon for "Wow, is this yummy!"

I was pretty sure it was Rupert but trying to be absolutely sure. By that time he was eating cat food. He looked up at me, still chewing. Suddenly his face was in that exact position, the one where you can really see that he has a big nose. Lol, Yep, it was Rupert all right, and suddenly I was laughing out loud at him again. Laughing at how cute he is, now laughing at him. Then, because he was so close, as he ate I noticed how his nose bounces up and down as he chews. And then I was laughing again. He's got that Rudolph thing going on. He's very cute though, and unlike the others, he looks nothing like Heidi.

Second, I think we may have a new family. I'm not sure, so don't get your hopes up too much, but I have a hunch. First when Heidi arrived and walked up to me as I was pouring her food, I noticed that while she still looked large, she looked somehow deflated. Then I noticed that she was constantly monitoring the noises in the forest - something she does (like any good mom) when listening for sounds of problems with the kids. Every time she heard a twig snap she would stop eating and look at the forest - and listen. A few times she ran back over the fence, not due to sounds in the yard or street but due to sounds in the forest. Then she would come back a few minutes later. Once i heard her in the forest making that clicking sound. After about the 3rd time she didn't come back. Around 11PM when I took Widget out, I had a hunch that she was there looking for leftovers since she had left before eating very much.

I took some food with me while out with Widget. Even with the smell of food and me speaking (to Widget), Heidi didn't come out of the forest. Then, before we left, I called her, and she appeared on top of the fence. She knows her name!

OK, that source of water contamination is really depressing; makes you wonder if doctors are prescribing higher doses than needed, which wouldn't be good for us or the water supply.

Yeah, I've always thought of "normal" as equivalent to ordinary, if not to boring, as well; like you, I'm glad it was never my goal since I'll never achieve it.

How about milk crates (with holes drilled in bottom) for toy boxes? Cheap, easy access, stackable, and can be hose cleaned if one gets inspired.

It does sound like Heidi's kits may have landed: how exciting! Now we wait and wait for them to mature enough to visit the diner....

It's great to hear that Rupert is such a happy, well-adjusted yearling despite his almost complete lack of maternal care. He truly is a survivor!

We've had a couple warm days lately that gave me a chance to pull piled leaves out from among the perennials, do some trimming, etc. Ground's too soggy from last week's torrential rains to dig; may dry by the end of the week when, of course, more rain is forecast. Oh well, helps with the water deficit. At least the foliage of spring bulbs is finally emerging, and the crocuses are flowering: gives one hope.

Don't envy you either the oral surgery or the jury duty: hopefully surgery will go smoothly and they won't need you to sit for jury duty.

I'll try to come back and post the duckling saga later.

Cheryl -- we still have at least another month before we can go out and tackle the yard. Gonna warm to mid-upper 40's this week, but as KY mentioned.... still muddy... well still frozen here currently. Our last frost date is May 15th.

as for water... i purchased myself a distiller 2 yrs ago for my Bday. So i drink 90% distilled. I try to use it to make coffee too .. but sometimes I just dont have enough around. [takes about 3.5hrs to make a gallon]
I read once.... for filtered, you take the 'gunk' out of the water, but for distilled, you take the water out of the 'gunk'.
I never looked into rev. osmosis
I find some 'bottled water' still just does not taste right to me.

Up in Wisc, there is a lil town, Rock Falls or Rock Spring [can't recall - but it's south east of Reedsburg ] where they just have a spigot on the side of the road where you can fill up. Hinkley and Schmidt moved in across the street, and shut that off so they could have all the water to themselves, and i guess the area folks went ballistic, so they turned it back on again.... but we will go and fill milk jugs... and that is some good tasting water.... right out of the ground.

where you stated that Rupert does not look like Heidi .... Was Diva one of Heidi's kids? I thought she was just one who wandered onto the scene last year. I didn't think Rupert was a grand kid of Heidi's.

Ugg - good luck with the surgery and Jury Duty. Neither are fun. though ... jury duty you can bring your laptop and sit and write. Hopefully you wont be chosen and you'll have 8 hrs to write your book. ;-)

Hi Terese,

See, now this is why I like to talk to all of the DG folks, not just the ones from my region. I love to learn about other areas. I've spent virtually my whole life in this general area - except for a 3 mo stint in PA as a teen. May, wow, that is unbelievable. Here, mid May is about the time when it's starting to reach the boiling point. May is hot but still almost tolerable - and by then the whole flower garden is in full swing and it's too late to plant veggies, if you expect a decent yield that is. Late Feb is too late to plant green peas and the last chance for onions, lettuce, spinach, etc. By the time June rolls around here, it's about time to hang up the garden and run inside for cover - sadly. Oh, this weekend while I was out working in the garden I found something that I MUST photograph for you guys. It's a plastic pot saucer that was in the middle of my flower garden all summer in 07. Now it's semi-melted and warped such that the outer rim is now in a scalloped pattern. Even I'm amazed, although, as I think I mentioned once before, I never leave anything in my car in the summer because one year I left a plastic mechanical pencil in the this little mini-pocket (with cover) on the dash and the pencil melted and curled around in a 'C' formation.

Personally, I think distilled is about as pure as you can get. Out of the ground used to be considered a good thing. We had a few natural springs in the forest where I grew up, but according to the press release even deep, natural springs may not be immune to the problem of drug residue. Some of these have also tested positive for drugs, although generally fewer drugs and lower quantities.

That's correct. We believe that Diva either just happened by or maybe followed HRH here during a fling, but we didn't really know for sure since I only started observing the group in 06. When 07 rolled around, I was only familiar with Heidi and her 06 kits. I really could not say for sure that Diva or any other 'stranger' wasn't one of Heidi's kids from a former year. We were pretty sure that Diva was an outsider. She also looked very different from the others. Now I'm noticing that pretty much everybody except Rupert and HRH has the 'Heidi' face, even Juliet's kids which makes sense considering Juliet was one of Heidi's and she herself looked very much like Heidi. So, yes, you are correct.

Hey, great idea about writing the book while I wait around in court! So glad you mentioned that as it had not occurred to me. I was thinking about doing 'work', but I like your idea much better! Actually, although the timing is bad (still in crunch mode and getting crunchier by the minute), I have always wanted to serve on a jury . Wouldn't you know it, since I (desperately) want to do it, for years I could never even seem to score a summons much less get picked. Then when I finally got a summons or two, 'my' cases always got settled out of court (which is a good thing for all concerned, of course). The only time I got a summons for a case that made it to court, my project mgr called the judge and got me dismissed because I was needed for the crunch we were having at that time. This time, as I understand the summons, I'm to be there for the week, not just for a single case. To be honest, I dreading the oral surgery more than the jury duty. I wanted him to pull the tooth yesterday under local just to get it over with. He had agreed until he saw the xrays and heard the history of the tooth at which time he said, "nope, you have to go to sleep for this one. " Fooey!

Now what happened to that duckling story...

>>May, wow, that is unbelievable.

we can still get a lot done mid-late april, but really shouldnt plant any 'tender' plants til after mother's day... that is usually the "safe point". I recall 2 yrs ago, DH's friend [i personally think he's an idiot] planted 75, YES 75 tomato plants, only to lose them all in a hard frost about the second week of May.

Last year, by pure luck, i got my tomatoes out end of April and they were fine.... a few nights i covered them with the tops of 2Ltr bottles to protect them a bit.... but it also gave me earlier tomatoes ... it stinks we have to wait so long for veggies up here.

75 tomato plants? That's funny. I think I planted around 6 to 10 one year, about 1/2 of those grapes, and ended up giving them to everyone I saw. Was he supplying the entire Midwestern US? ...and lost them. Ouch!

Waiting so long does sound rough, but, on the other hand, some of us don't get to plant them at all because we miss that early cut off date.

well -- like i said, this guys an idiot.
He's single/divorced, unemployed [oh, yea -- disabled] does not have 2 nickels to rub together.... yet he ahs the money to spend on plants. Last year, out of plain stupidity on my part, i gave him 2 heirloom plants that I had grown .... he never planted them and they died. Told DH that was the last nice thing i ever do for him.

I usually only do 2 or 3 for me... last year was 5. I just dont have the room, but i LOVE tomatoes. I id take lots to Wisc and gave them away to the SR's up there. since they live there for the summers and have no room for gardens... they love any fresh veggies.

HEY -- isn't this "crunch time" ?? shouldn't you be working?

Well -- i do need to go visit Gram... she's in the hosp.

BBL.

Sorry to hear your grandmother's not well, tcs. I'm sure she will appreciate your visit. If she needs prayers, do let us know. (I said a little one just now.)

We have natural springs here on our property, but never had it tested. I read that certain minerals can make it undrinkable, too. I'll have to check with the local extension office to see about testing.

The general rule about spring planting here is after Mother's Day, too. And then you have to hope everything doesn't drown in the spring "showers"...deluges is more like it.

LOL about Rupert's nose bobbing up and down as he eats! How cute!

Thanks KY -- shes on the mend. She'll be 91 in 9 days and had a 'blockage' in her leg... almost lost it, but they did a 'by-pass' ... and amazingly, she's doing OK.

my DH and Uncle were getting ready to plan her funeral last week.

she's a real trooper.

>>Rupert's nose bobbing up and down as he eats! How cute!

Rupert certainly is one of the cutest out of the bunch.

Oh, that's wonderful that they were able to help her! How scary. More prayers a'comin'.

Hi Ruth,

Sorry, I didn't forget you. I responded to Terese while I was at work yesterday AM. Was in a hurry (although you can't tell from the length of that post). Figured I'd respond to you when I got home that evening. Unfortunately, the night before I totally couldn't sleep. Totally, at all. Had accidentally consumed an energy drink hours before bed. It was 100% fruit juice. Didn't realize it was an energy drink until it was too late - you have to read those labels carefully these days. Worked really well, too. That night I took a pain pill for my tooth AND a sleep aid around 2AM when I was still awake and knew I needed to get some sleep before work. Even after all of that I was still wide awake at 5AM! Watched boring TV. Read magazines. Tried to sleep.

Anyhow, some time after 6AM yesterday morning I finally fell asleep. Allowed myself to sleep until 8:30AM then ran off to work. Since that other energy drink worked so well to keep me awake all night, I drank 2 more to stay awake and even alert at work. Worked amazingly well. I even managed to get work done, none of that trying to keep eyes open stuff. Then I came home a little early (4:30PM), took a little nap, and awoke at 1:45AM this morning! Might still be sleeping except that Widget had to go outside. Anyhow, that's why I didn't post yet.

Realized, when I awoke a few minutes ago, that I'd blown right through 1st and 2nd feeding times for the raccoons - not to mention MY dinner. Didn't worry too much about the others but felt bad for Heidi, esp if she is a new mom. Took a little food (just for her) out with me when Widget went out. Widget showed no evidence that Heidi or any of the others were around. That plus the fact that I never feed at this time of AM made me feel silly for even trying, so I didn't leave the food. I called Heidi lightly a time or 2 (with Widget still running around) just to see if I got a reaction, maybe movement in the forest or something. Nothing. Came back in. Widget was still out there. A few minutes later when he came in, I went back out with the food just in case. Called Heidi's name a time or two as I walked back there. Didn't expect to see her, of course. Almost stumbled over her! There she was on the ground waiting for me - almost impossible to see her in the dark against the soil and dead leaves. Still think she looks like she has had the kits. Based on the way she was acting last night - listening for every sound across the fence and running back there to fuss at the other raccoons when she heard them - I think the kits may be relatively close behind my house, at least within her hearing range. If that's the case, she probably heard me calling her the 1st time I went out with Widget, and that's why she was out there when I returned. Gave her the food and came back in. Feel much better knowing she got dinner even if it's late.

Rupert is still a bit skittish compared to the others, runs off when I crinkle plastic, etc. Have to call him back down off the fence. Guess that's part of what makes him a survivor. But he stands up to the others quite well now, including Trouble. Doesn't leave his food w/o a fight.

Milk crates sound good - as soon as I have time to figure out what they are and where to get them. Thought i knew until you mentioned drilling holes. The crates I was thinking of have plenty of built-in holes.

Can relate about the rain. Recently while hauling debris to curb behind lawn tractor, I totally messed up the grass along the side of the house because it was really too soggy for all of that, but I had to make use of every available sunny day before it gets too late.

Better get back to sleep now. Still waiting for that duckling story. : )

Terese,

Glad to hear your grandmother is doing better. I missed that part earlier. She sure sounds tough.

Off to get more z's.

Really: a plastic saucer melted/warped just sitting in the yard all summer? Now that is frightening; I couldn't handle that level of heat, so guess I'll settle for the longer colder winters.

OK, here's a story to keep us occupied while waiting to hear for sure if Heidi has had the kits. For those who haven't read all the threads, a bit of background. I spent more than fifteen years working at animal shelters, most at a small public shelter in northern VA/suburban Washington, DC. We served a small city whose government was separate from that of the surrounding county. The city government contracted management of the shelter to a local animal welfare group, so we were able to put a lot of focus on public education, wildlife education and rescue, etc.: stuff the larger jurisdictions are often too busy to do. Over the years I worked in a lot of different jobs there, but the best stories come from my years as an animal control officer. Being such a small jurisdiction, we only had the budget to have one officer on duty at a time, and we did everything you can imagine: capturing/picking up strays, enforcing leash, license, rabies vaccine, barking, and animal cruelty laws, responding to calls about animals in distress, wildlife complaints with education or cage trap loan and monitoring, even picking up road kill. Basically if someone had a problem or question about an animal in our little city, we were the resource. The obvious result is that if you needed to spend a lot of time on one call, you built a growing list of calls waiting; the police dispatchers, who gave us our calls on the police radio system, found this problematic. It was an ongoing dilemma, especially in spring and summer when the wildlife calls were endless along with all the usual domestic animal problems.

I started working as an officer during the winter, and spent those months learning all I could about wildlife in preparation for the spring onslaught. We were truly blessed to work with an awesome network of wildlife rehabbers, who would help with our questions and take and care for any wild creatures in need of rehab. Starting around Valentine's Day, we began handling the baby squirrels who'd fallen from their high nest during storms, the baby possums who'd fallen off mama's back and been left behind, etc.; I was cautiously beginning to think I could handle this.

Then came a beautiful, warm Saturday in mid-March. The populace was out and about, enjoying the fine weather and seeing all sorts of things to call us about; I hit the road and started sprinting from one end of town to the other, trying to cope with the call volume. The dispatcher sent me to a garden apartment complex to see the maintenance man regarding baby ducks in the swimming pool. This is a frequent call during baby season. The water level in a pool is well below the rim of the pool; baby ducklings happily follow their mother in for a dip, but then cannot leave the pool since they can't even flutter, much less fly. I was relieved that I'd asked my fellow officers and the rehabbers how to handle this one. I'd been told to look for the mother; if she was still in the area, just use the long-handled butterfly net to scoop the babies from the pool, make sure the mother saw me carrying the babies to a nearby protected area, and release the babies. Then retreat a good distance and watch to make sure the mother finds and cares for them; if not, recapture the babies and arrange for a rehabber to take them. It sounded simple.

The maintenance man was waiting for me in the parking lot; I grabbed my butterfly net and a cat carrier to contain the babies, and we headed for the pool. A good number of apartment residents were around the pool, enjoying the adorable scene. There is nothing cuter in the world than young ducklings: ten little yellow fluff balls, with just a hint of mallard markings on their faces, were happily swimming around the HUGE pool, cheeping nonstop. Mama mallard was perched on top of the pool house, quacking and calling. I immediately realized that the helpful advice I'd received addressed private pools, not great big numbers like this one: my net on a four-foot handle was a joke. Oh well, one must try. I enlisted the help of the maintenance man to hold the cat carrier with the rear side down and the door open on top. Lying down at the edge of the pool, I managed to scoop up two babies with ease and carefully drop them in the open cat carrier. And now I had eight ducklings swimming well out of reach, dead center in the pool, carefully avoiding the sides, cheeping nonstop, as were the captured ones; mama's quacking also became louder and more urgent. Time for Plan B: what plan B?

Asking my helpful maintenance man to take care of the captured kids, I headed back to the van to see what else I could come up with. Well, there was the huge net we use for injured adult waterfowl, like geese: big net on an eight-foot pole, and hard to handle because of the totally unbalanced weight. Back to the pool, where I found that the net could in fact reach far out into the pool; but the ducklings went right through the larger mesh. And I still have eight ducklings cheeping and swimming in the middle of the pool.

Back to the van. Well, they have a strong flocking instinct; can I use that? Aha: the stretcher used to transport injured dogs could work as a ramp. Maybe with food and their siblings, I could entice them to walk out of the pool. Food?? No duck mash, bread, or crackers on board. How about the peanut butter crackers I'd been munching before the call came in?

Back to the pool with stretcher and peanut butter crackers, where I found that the crowd of poolside onlookers had multiplied exponentially; and residents were now out on their balconies, enjoying the show with their morning coffee. Nothing like looking inept in front of a crowd. I explained my harebrained scheme to the maintenance man. I placed the stretcher as a ramp leading from poolside into the water, crumbled the peanut butter crackers and tossed them down near the water end of the ramp, and had the maintenance man hold the cat carrier at the top of the ramp so the ones in the water could see their siblings. And we held that awkward pose while the ducklings swam happily in the center of the pool and mother screamed at me from the pool house. Maybe we need to open the carrier so the ones in the water are sure to see these guys........ I'm sure you see this coming: two formerly captured ducklings waddled happily down the ramp and into the pool, where they joined their compatriots at center pool, cheeping up a storm. I swear they were laughing at me, and I know mama was cursing at me.

Pull stretcher out of water, dispose of cracker crumbs, wipe egg off face. No more equipment worth trying.... hmmmm. I asked the maintenance man how much trouble I'd be in if I simply jumped in the pool to catch the ducks. His eyes got very wide, but he said they hadn't yet cleaned the pool for the season, and he was sure management wouldn't care. [I should explain that our uniform was basically the same as the police uniform, minus the firearms and heavy equipment belt.] Got on the radio and told the dispatcher I'd be out of radio contact for some time (he wasn't pleased, but oh well, neither was I); put the radio, my work boots and socks away from the water, muttering sotto voce that I'd never aspired to the Polar Bear Club, and jumped in. Someone applauded, I shivered; COLD water, very very cold water. Ducklings swim superbly; I survive in the water, and I defy anyone to swim gracefully in ice water wearing a police uniform and carrying a net. It took a while, but after much plodding around (and no doubt looking like an outtake from the Keystone Cops), I managed to net all ten of the little darlings and carry them to the side of the pool where the maintenance man was always waiting with the upended carrier. Out of the pool, thank god, streaming ice water.

Now what? There was no protected spot for releasing the ducklings; this was one of the most congested parts of the city, and releasing them on site made it likely they'd just be back in the pool. The odds of mother coming down off the pool house for contained babies was very low, especially with this bloody crowd; I think every resident in the complex was enjoying the show by now. Making an announcement to a crowd while your teeth are chattering from cold is a challenge, but I tried. Told them I wanted to give the mother a chance to come down for the babies, so I could release them all together; but that she wouldn't come with all these people around, so it would be really helpful if they'd disperse. Right. I took the carrier and the huge net and moved off to an area behind the pool house. Put down the carrier, laid the net beside it, and moved back to the end of the eight-foot handle. The idea was that if mom would come over to check out the kids, I could simply flip the net over on her without startling movements. Sat on the grass and shivered, listening to the ducklings cheeping and mama cursing. Every few minutes, a resident would come over and ask how it was going, if I thought this would work, or something. Grrrrrr. After a while, it became painfully clear that the people wouldn't go away and the mother wouldn't come down. Time to take the kids back to the shelter, arrange for a rehabber for them, find a dry uniform and start playing catchup on the waiting calls.

My friend the maintenance man helped me carry all my gear, boots, ducklings, etc. as I squelched back to the van. I thanked him profusely; he told me he hadn't had this much fun at work in years. Got in the van to drive barefoot; couldn't afford to get the boots wet since I had no spares. Driving down the road, I realized the cheeping from the back was in more than stereo, much more. At a traffic light, I glanced back and saw ducklings waddling and cheeping around all over the back of the van; the little Houdinis obviously could fit through the grate on the cat carrier's door. Terrified that they'd waddle up front and get under the pedals, I put on the hazard lights, moved right and crawled back to the shelter as the cheeping echoed off the van's metal sides. Once I arrived, I couldn't open the van door for obvious reasons; crawled over the seats into the back to recapture all ten of the dears.

The expressions on the faces of shelter staff when I walked in dripping wet, carrying a cheeping cat carrier with door end up, were priceless. I handed off the ducklings, wished them luck keeping them confined, and told them I was calling a rehabber, changing clothes, and would then them fill them in. By the time I'd done that, the ducklings had escaped from four different shelter cages, each time to be found happily cheeping and waddling around the floor and under the cages. The staff had to tightly pin a towel covering every inch of the cage door in order to keep them contained. When a rehabber arrived a few hours later to take them away, the staff wanted to kiss her; I of course was back on the road playing catchup.

And yes, I still like ducks, quite a lot; but let's say that I wouldn't play a recording of their vocalizations while trying to fall asleep.

Great story, Ruth! Great verbal illustrations. I wanted to clobber the 'helpful' (not) onlookers. Still sorry mom didn't get her kids back but happy that all ended well, otherwise. (Tried to imagine dealing with 'my' group with a huge crowd of gawkers. Am sure I never would have met Heidi and company under such circumstances.)

Edited to add: I think I see another book series in the wings!

This message was edited Mar 12, 2008 4:46 AM

Thanks, Cheryl; and trust me, I also wanted to clobber the onlookers. I can laugh about it now, because I know the ducklings were all healthy, uninjured, and were all released into the wild when old enough. But at the time, I could happily have strangled everyone except the maintenance man; he was a prince!

As I gained more experience with these calls, I learned that the mother will do a lot to watch over and stay with the ducklings; it's only because of the circumstances that they wound up separated. Years later, I had to deal with ducklings at the water treatment plant located right across the street from the shelter: a huge facility, and again, ducklings who couldn't get out of what was on this occasion very disgusting and dangerous water. Mama was watching from very close at hand. This time, I was able to net the ducklings, put them in a cage strapped onto the rolling stretcher and walk them - very very slowly - back to the shelter. We made a strange parade, as I stopped after every few very slow steps to allow mama to catch up as she walked behind. Talked to the police dispatcher on the radio, and asked him to alert shelter staff to have someone in the parking lot with a large net, and not to move toward me when I arrived. The staff member cracked up when she saw me sloooowly processing toward the shelter with rolling ducklings and mama following. That time, we were able to catch mama and release her with the ducklings in a much safer location (after bathing the ducklings in Dawn to remove the disgusting stuff they'd been swimming in). Just bad luck that that day at the apartment pool was the first breath of spring, with everyone out and about and unintentionally causing huge problems.

ROTFLOL!!

Great story, Ruth!

LOL, another book "in the WINGS".
I don't suppose it would've been possible to just add more water to the swimming pool?
They probably wouldn't have gotten permission for that expense, unless the owner was an animal lover. Great story--you are a true animal lover, Ruth!

Lovely & hysterical, Ruth! Love the word pictures you paint....

Thanks, guys! And no, KyWoods, unfortunately it wasn't possible to fill the pool to the rim. The pool had overflow drains (don't know the technical term, but that's what they looked like), much like the one in your bathtub that prevents overflow. Raising the water level substantially would just have sent it down the drains. Sure wish it had been possible, however; that wasn't the most fun I've ever had in the water....

Months later, I got another call to that apartment complex: very mundane call about a stray cat. Ran into my friendly maintenance man, who told me some residents still talked about that day when they're at the pool: guess it was like Saturday am cartoons.

Loved it! Y'all are too much. And do catch my article on Larry another featured "player" here on DG. He's a beauty.

Ahhh, yes, the overflow drains...can you tell it's been a while since I've been in a pool? LOL

I hear you, KyWoods; I'm allergic to chlorine and really try to avoid pools. Haven't been in one since I left animal control.

Hi, Everyone. Enjoyed the duckling stories, Ruth!

Well, Folks, In the morning I'm heading out for my oral surgery. Everybody say a little prayer (and/or send good thoughts my way) that all goes well. I don't think we are expecting anything to go wrong, but due to prior problems with the tooth, the Dr isn't comfortable pulling it w/o putting me to sleep (and I always prefer to be awake for anything this important - just in case he needs my help).

As I mentioned, the tooth has an interesting past. A decade or so ago it cracked, requiring a root canal. During that procedure the dentist (no longer on my health care team), excited at the opportunity to use his new toy, mentioned his new, whiz bang, and unbreakable titanium drill bit...only moments before it broke off in my tooth somewhere beyond the point from which it might be retrieved. Since he couldn't remove the lost portion of the bit and as he needed to get beyond it in order to finish the job, he used another bit to try to push it out of the way - oh, yeah, that was fun. Not surprisingly, the tooth continued to be problematic even after THAT procedure. Changed dentists - as I didn't like that guy's technique - and was sent to another professional to have a 2nd root canal, same tooth. Using all manner of specialized equipment which allowed him to operate and view via computer, this one hoped to get around the drill bit - to make sure no 'tooth' material that might cause infection remained in that 'canal'. Unfortunately, he could not get past the bit, and again the tooth continued to bother me. Later, he did a 2nd procedure in which he went in above the gum area to remove the roots and, finally, retrieve the lost piece of drill bit. Although that helped a lot - I mean, then I could bite down w/o screaming, not to mention have an MRI and make it through airport screening - I continued to have discomfort around the tooth which brings us to last week's 'flare up' and tomorrow's surgery. As much as I hate to let any tooth go without a fight, I've just plain had it with that one.

Wish me well, and, hopefully, I'll be back with you tomorrow evening or some time Friday. I took some more pics last night, BTW. Nothing spectacular, just the usual stuff - raccoons eating. Will post some when I return. Fingers crossed, especially since the tooth in question does appear to be jinxed...

Cheryl, that's just terrible; I can't imagine having a drill bit portion stuck in the teeth for years. I understand the reluctance to give up on a body part, but that one has been through enough - and so have you! Hope all goes well; we're thinking of you.

Thank you very much, Ruth. : )
Going to try for a few more dreams (and z's) before surgery now.

Holy Cow!! Is that dude still practicing??

I opt to be put out whenever possible myself...I had one make fun of me because I demanded any & all drugs available. But I sure came out of there happy!!!

Hope all goes well and your pain is gone for good!

Cheryl --

hope you are feeling better after your bout with the oral surgeon.

My brother had a dentist break a drill bit off in his "canal" during a root canal too. It's been in there for a couple of years now. Luckily he isn't in pain - yet.

Cheryl, I hope your surgery goes well. You certainly have had more than your share of stressful health issues.

Hi, Everyone,

Just want to let you know that I'm home now, and everything went well. In fact, I woke up rearing to go home. They wouldn't release me then, of course. So I sat around fidgeting and complaining and insisting that it was time for me to go. Once they removed the IV, I started wandering the hall. I guess they got tired of chasing me down and returning me to my room, so they let me go home. I don't normally behave that way. Must have been the drugs they gave me. I woke up feeling wide awake, bored, and anxious to get moving.

Then a short time after I got home the drugs wore off and...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh@^$$@#&**!!!!!

Since then I've eaten about a handful or two of those Oxy-whatits along with some Naproxen and have iced my face more or less constantly while waiting for the drugs to kick in and the pain to fade out. All I can say so far is:

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh@^$$@#&**!!!!!

Cheryl,

You're feeling well enough to play on the computer, instead of curling up & moaning in pain... so, I'll say it could be worse. Hope the worst is behind you & the pain is much better tomorrow!!

goldfinch,

From what I've gleaned from talking with a variety of professionals since the unfortunate incident which left me walking about with the drill bit embedded in my tooth, (1) it happens sometimes and (2) it's possible to go a lifetime without any problems. My guess is that if your brother has done ok this long, he will be fine.

In my case, it's not as though the drill bit and I got along fine for years and then suddenly developed problems. I left the dentist's office that day in pain, and the pain never subsided. After a couple of weeks treatment with strong pain meds and Nsaids to reduce inflammation and swelling, I was forwarded to the endodontist for a 2nd root canal procedure. Even weeks later and after the 2nd procedure, I was always (from the time the drill bit got lodged in there) unable to bite down on anything (hence unable to chew on that side at all). When the endodontist performed the 'epico' (sp?) to remove the root tips and drill bit, I was finally able to begin to eat on that side again - sometimes.

Even though the epico and removal of the bit made it possible for me to bite down on that side, I continued to experience problems. The remaining problems were of a nature that made it virtually impossible for any of the experts to say with certainly whether the tooth was still the culprit. I suffered frequent and very debilitating pain in a line from the tooth up into the surrounding sinus cavity. As I had never experienced this sort of pain before and as I had no such pain on the other side, it seemed likely that the tooth was the culprit. Still, I hated to remove what might be a perfectly fine tooth only to find that I still had the pain.

For months I swilled Aleve and prescrip pain meds, walked around holding my morning coffee against my face as a makeshift heating pad, and even 'adorned' my face with cutouts from those arthritis pain patches while daring anyone to comment. Eventually, a tiny nodule or abscess began to appear on the gum just above the tooth. The nodule would last anywhere from an hour to a day. My dentist said the nodule was an indication that something was wrong inside there (the tooth). It's rapid disappearance indicated that my body (immune system) was managing to keep the problem/infection in check - at least so far. This went on for years. On each semi-annual checkup the dentist would ask about the state of that tooth and would x-ray it again to look for changes. Then last week all heck broke loose with the tooth. At that point I said, 'pull it.I'm done with it.' So here we are.

I guess I can't complain too terribly much. While I have had my share of medical problems lately, for most of my life I've been relatively free from health issues, never even had a broken bone, spent my 1st ever night in the hospital when I was, well, let's just say not a spring chicken and then only 1 night. I guess it was sort of my turn to get some of that rain that must inevitably fall into each life. Even so, my health problems have, so far at least, been more along the line of moderate level aggravations and minor disabilities; so while they do get me down sometimes, I hate to complain too loudly for I know that (to date) I've been spared the really big, crushing, medical traumas.

Thanks very much for the good wishes. I think the surgery went well. At least, that's what the Dr indicated. Now if I can just get the post surgical pain down to a dull roar...

Edited to add: But you are right, it could always be worse, much worse; and I don't mean to seem like I'm not greatful. (But there was moaning. I can moan and type. One of the benefits of being alone is that I can moan all I want w/o bothering anybody else. Sometimes it does freak widget out a bit but after a while he starts ignoring me.)

This message was edited Mar 13, 2008 9:33 PM

Hi Liz,

Well, yes, and no. I've been wallowing around in the bed with the ice pack for hours on end popping pain pills and waiting for the pain to subside. I'm not so much playing on the computer as 'talking' to you guys in a more or less desperate effort to distract myself because I just don't know what to do. I've been home since 2PM during which time I've taken about 1/2 the bottle of pain pills all the while holding an ice pack on my face and always thinking surely this is that magic quantity that will bring a little peace (and sleep), but the pain is still screaming bloody murder having not subsided for one minute in the last 5 hrs. I'm considering calling the Dr's emergency number. I don't think I'm supposed to be in this much pain for this long.

Other than 'talking' to you guys, I've not been surfing the net or anything like that. I'm alone, in a good bit of pain, and don't know what else to do. Edited to add: oh, how I wish this were the 'curling up' kind of situation but it's more the thrashing about kind of pain, and I've been doing that for hours already.

This message was edited Mar 13, 2008 7:21 PM