Death Watch
Jun. 14th, 2004 08:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
laura_seabrookOne of my Drakes died last night.
Earlier in the day, after I was on the computer for a while, I went of the back to play with Pegasus and check on things. I found him standing over a drake, it was lying on the ground in a bloody and torn manner.
At first I thought Peggy had done it, but now I don't think so. We was totally non-resistant when I growled at him and locked (temporarily) in an empty pen. When I had a close look at the wounds on the drake, I found they were more consistent with him being attacked by another drake. It's the first mating season of the year -- winter (late spring being the 2nd) and that's when the young drakes first become aggressive.
Normally they don't let it come to death blows. One drake in a fight will flee or acknowledge the higher rank of the other. I realised that the drake was not going to recover, but I couldn't bring myself to to kill it, so I moved it into the the sunlight. Other ducks and drakes came over, and one tried to attack it, but another drake (all white except for a black patch on its head) came near and protected it. That drake sat there with it all afternoon.
I had other commitments, and had to go out that afternoon. I still wasn't sure about Peggy, so I sectioned off the backyard with an old gate, confining him to the side and the house. When I got back the drake was still alive, and after I fed and penned its mates, I put it on a cushion and placed it near the pens.
I just didn't know what to do. It couldn't move its legs and there were flies all over it, and yet I still couldn't kill it. I'd nurtured that drake from hatching, and killing it seemed impossible. I fed the cats and Pegasus, and then went and sat next to it. The previous month I'd rigged a light for the garden shed, and now I used that to watch it. I just sat there in a chair and kept it company. After a while Peggy came out to see what was happening (normally this time I'd make some tea and probably watch TV). He lay down on a cushion next to me and the drake, and kept the watch with me.
And then I knew that he hadn't attached the drake -- he sniffed occasionally, but wasn't interested in it as a source of food or fun. I think maybe though, that he may have rolled on it earlier, as I've seen him do this with dead carcasses we find on bush tracks (though he hadn't done that with the three dead puppies we'd found last week). I was out there for a couple of hours, and then I realised that rather than comfort the animal, it was more likely afraid of us. I didn't want the poor thing to die in fear, so I placed him on the cushion inside the garden shed, turned off
the light, and went inside with Peggy.
AA few hours later I came outside to check on him. He was dead and stiff, and from the position had actually managed to move off the cushion before dying. I closed up the shed and went back in.
This morning, after feeding all the other pets, I took his body out into the bush and buried him. I never gave this drake a name, it was one of the ones from the new year's hatch, and I was waiting until they were fully mature to name them. But I loved this animal none the less, and as I buried him, I asked forgiveness for not making a mercy killing. Sniff.
That was the first drake I've buried so far. Heavens knows what I'm going to be like next time. I guess this time around I was more worried by the fact that one of the ducks, Akasha, disappeared on Friday. When I put them in the open, I noticed that she was missing. A thorough search failed to find her. At the time I wasn't worried (much), because last year Stinky had gone under the house for a whole week before I'd found her, nesting on eggs that never hatched.
Hopefully Akasha will turn up.
Such is life.
Earlier in the day, after I was on the computer for a while, I went of the back to play with Pegasus and check on things. I found him standing over a drake, it was lying on the ground in a bloody and torn manner.
At first I thought Peggy had done it, but now I don't think so. We was totally non-resistant when I growled at him and locked (temporarily) in an empty pen. When I had a close look at the wounds on the drake, I found they were more consistent with him being attacked by another drake. It's the first mating season of the year -- winter (late spring being the 2nd) and that's when the young drakes first become aggressive.
Normally they don't let it come to death blows. One drake in a fight will flee or acknowledge the higher rank of the other. I realised that the drake was not going to recover, but I couldn't bring myself to to kill it, so I moved it into the the sunlight. Other ducks and drakes came over, and one tried to attack it, but another drake (all white except for a black patch on its head) came near and protected it. That drake sat there with it all afternoon.
I had other commitments, and had to go out that afternoon. I still wasn't sure about Peggy, so I sectioned off the backyard with an old gate, confining him to the side and the house. When I got back the drake was still alive, and after I fed and penned its mates, I put it on a cushion and placed it near the pens.
I just didn't know what to do. It couldn't move its legs and there were flies all over it, and yet I still couldn't kill it. I'd nurtured that drake from hatching, and killing it seemed impossible. I fed the cats and Pegasus, and then went and sat next to it. The previous month I'd rigged a light for the garden shed, and now I used that to watch it. I just sat there in a chair and kept it company. After a while Peggy came out to see what was happening (normally this time I'd make some tea and probably watch TV). He lay down on a cushion next to me and the drake, and kept the watch with me.
And then I knew that he hadn't attached the drake -- he sniffed occasionally, but wasn't interested in it as a source of food or fun. I think maybe though, that he may have rolled on it earlier, as I've seen him do this with dead carcasses we find on bush tracks (though he hadn't done that with the three dead puppies we'd found last week). I was out there for a couple of hours, and then I realised that rather than comfort the animal, it was more likely afraid of us. I didn't want the poor thing to die in fear, so I placed him on the cushion inside the garden shed, turned off
the light, and went inside with Peggy.
AA few hours later I came outside to check on him. He was dead and stiff, and from the position had actually managed to move off the cushion before dying. I closed up the shed and went back in.
This morning, after feeding all the other pets, I took his body out into the bush and buried him. I never gave this drake a name, it was one of the ones from the new year's hatch, and I was waiting until they were fully mature to name them. But I loved this animal none the less, and as I buried him, I asked forgiveness for not making a mercy killing. Sniff.
That was the first drake I've buried so far. Heavens knows what I'm going to be like next time. I guess this time around I was more worried by the fact that one of the ducks, Akasha, disappeared on Friday. When I put them in the open, I noticed that she was missing. A thorough search failed to find her. At the time I wasn't worried (much), because last year Stinky had gone under the house for a whole week before I'd found her, nesting on eggs that never hatched.
Hopefully Akasha will turn up.
Such is life.
