Winter Warmers

So now the weather is turning colder and we are selling more wild bird foods and it is good to see people making sure that animals and birds are ready for the winter. But how far should we go when pampering our pets? Will we kill them with kindness? Yes, we should ensure that the wild birds for example are well fed, but we should also make sure that if we have been putting food out regularly it should always be available for them right through the Winter. They get used to feeding from the same spot and rely on it especially in a cold snap. But what happens when you go on holiday? Their table could be bare for two weeks which could result in a number of small birds deaths. So make sure you ask a friendly neighbour to put food out on your bird table whilst you sit on some sunny beach somewhere. Then when you return you will be rewarded by the sight of happy and with luck chubby birds on your bird table.
In the shop we have had customers buying warm beds and blankets for their pets. Only yesterday a customer looked at every bed that we had in stock. She couldn't make up her mind which one to buy and came back three times before making her purchase. I nearly asked her if she would like to sit in one to see how comfy it was, but I don't think she would have seen the funny side and may well have plonked herself in it and then asked to sit in a few more! I am just glad that I don't own a furniture store as I am sure it would have taken her at least a week to decide which three piece suite to buy.
Dog coats are starting to sell again, and this season there are some real 'classy' outfits. Pink jackets, fur collars and even little 'charms' to put on collars. I just hope that they do the trick and keep the poor pouches warm as well.

Trumpeting Tango

Its raining again. Tango our Green Amazon parrot loves the rain. She fluffs up her wings and dances about on her perch whenever she hears the sound of dripping water. Then she starts to squawk. You can hear her from outside. Even across the road over the sound of the traffic. She loves a good old squawk and she has been doing a lot of it these last few days as it has been raining quite hard. Problem is that when the phone rings we cannot hear what the caller is saying. The only way to shut Tango up is to give her some celery. She just loves celery and will sit and strip a celery stalk within about 5 minutes and then it is back to her incessant squawking. I just can't wait for a bit of dry weather and a headache free day! Someone said the other day that it wasn't just raining 'cats and dogs' it was raining 'Tangos trumpets' as well.

Busy days

Why is it that although we are open from 8.30am to 5.30pm Mondays to Saturdays and 11.am to 4pm on Sundays people want to visit the shop at the very last minute before the doors close? Or even after we have shut? Only last Saturday a Lady came in at 11am in the morning enquiring if we had any guinea pigs? We told her that we had and she said that she would be back. Sure enough back she came , but at 5.30pm. Accompanied by her husband and two children. They then proceeded on the long process of choosing their pet. 'Should we take this one?' 'No-that one is nicer'. Or 'I like that one with the longer hair', 'No - the one with the short coat is best'. This went on and on.
When selling an animal we like to take our time and give the customer as much information about their new pet as is possible. We also like to say goodbye to it so all in all this can take quite a while. But this was stretched to the limit last Saturday. I think customers think that we love animals so much we sleep at the shop with them too. Anyway the guinea pig went to a nice home in the end and myself and the rest of the staff left sometime later. - (The shop has to be clean and tidy ready for the next day.) We were all really tired as it had been a long hard day and when my staff go home they all also go home to various pets who all need cleaning, walking and feeding too. So work really does not stop at the shop door.
Anyway I eventually arrived home and after tea settled down to put my tired feet up only to hear the telephone ring. It was someone who had just arrived in the area for their holidays and they had brought their dog with them, but had forgotten his favourite food, and it was the only one he would eat! Two hours after leaving the shop I was down there again.
Good job that the burglar alarm didn't go off that night too. A call out in the middle of the night would have been the last straw.

Tortoise Tales

Selling tortoises thirty or forty years ago was a very different proposition than what it is today. Then your average Pet shop owner was asked for tortoises by his customers. He would then order them from his wholesaler and then a few days later a consignment of tortoises would appear. When we received them they were in flat boxes, but many years earlier they had come in Ali Baba type baskets. On arrival all the tortoises were first put into large trays of warm water and given a drink, then they were washed and checked for ticks. After a few hours rest they were then fed lots of fresh vegetables and then next day put out on show ready to go to new homes. One of my earliest childhood summer memories was going to check the tortoises with my Father and seeing which were male or female. (turn tortoise upside down, concave shell - male, flattish shell -female.)
Way back then not too many people questioned how animals were transported or how they were caught. Now-a-days things are different. I guess that we have learnt our lesson in the Pet Trade and are now questioning issues about transportation and taking animals from the wild. I don't think that pet shop owners were cruel, just ignorant. Not many had even travelled abroad so knew nothing about freight or flying. But I did hear tell after the importation ban of tortoises was imposed that instead of catching the tortoises and selling them for pets the Greek and Turkish farmers were clubbing the poor animals to death. This was because the poor old tortoises were eating the farmers crops and were a pest. There always seems to be two sides to each coin.
So many people have stories to tell about their first pet,and many will reminisce about their pet tortoise. A great many people still have them, but not many will admit to it as they are frightened that their pet will be stolen as now tortoises cost quite a bit of money.
Tortoises for sale in pet shops in 2007 are captive bred and most require documentation. Any reliable pet store would not sell a tortoise without the relevant information on heating, feeding etc. This complies with the conditions of our pet licence.
But I still remember one of my first pets a big tortoise call 'Tug'. He ruled the roost at our house, living till just last year. I still have fond memories of him getting into the strawberry patch and enjoying our home grown strawberries. Much to my Mothers annoyance.

Pets or Owners ideas?

Someone sent me a comment regarding the love of their cat. She said that she always took her cat with her when she went on holiday. This set me thinking? Do we do things for our Pets or for ourselves? I know that if I took any of my cats on holiday they would not thank me. In fact they would be very upset and would probably try to make a quick exit out of the car every time the door was opened. But on the other hand if you have a dog and you take a trip he may be mortified if you leave him at home. But do we as Pet owners put our own ideals before that of our Pets? I guess that it is up to the individual to decide what is good and helpful to their pet. And so long as the Pet and its owner are happy and content then who are we to argue. So many people have different ideas and thoughts about how to keep and rear pets that this can become a very sticky issue. We have a customer who regularly runs up and down mountains with his two beautiful dogs. They think nothing of a quick run before breakfast doing ten to twelve miles. These super fit dogs are devoted to their owner and he just adores them. They were in the shop one day after a good morning out when another customer remarked that the 'poor dogs had run too far, and shouldn't have been allowed to have run such a distance'. I didn't know what to say. They looked healthy enough, were young and fit and I think really enjoyed their run. But was the customer right? Were they taken too far? I guess everyone has an opinion, so long as there is no hardship at the end of the day the dogs owner must have the final say. He is the one who has looked after them and cared for them and should know what they like and need. But it is still a tricky issue. Should be feed our cats mice instead of tinned or dried food because they prefer them? Or should we make our dogs eat vegetarian food because we are a vegetarian ourselves? Questions, questions.

Tickle strikes again

Whoops. Tickle the Parrot has been at it again. Earlier on today a well dressed woman walked into the shop. She looked round for a few minutes, and then bent down to pick up a packet of dog food from a bottom shelf. At that precise moment Tickle looked up and gave a very loud and long wolf whistle. The Lady stood bolt upright and turned to where one of our male shop assistants was standing. She obviously thought it was him as he was the only other person in the shop at the time. Poor chap, he immediately apologised and said that it was Tickle and pointed to Tickles cage at the back of the shop. Of course our shop is quite large and the Lady only glanced over in Tickles direction. Tickle was sitting at the bottom of his cage enjoying his breakfast -yes he can whistle and eat at the same time -. Anyway the lady did not see Tickle and stormed out of the shop tutting about rude leering men. The poor assistant who is a very polite and charming man was quite mortified.

Tasty titbits

Maybe we are a butchers shop too. A butchers shop for dogs and cats that is. We sell all sorts of interesting meaty products. Tripe - well dogs think it is tasty-, chicken, beef, liver etc. Of course this comes in tins, is frozen, or vacuum packed. But it is the natural treats that amuse me the most. We sell pigs ears, and trotters, hooves, cheeks, snouts, ribs, paddywack -a sort of crispy skin-. Roast bones - large and small- parma ham bone and smoked bones, not to mention bones filled with cheese, or mint, aniseed or chicken. Sausages, kebabs, jerky, and one that I cannot bring myself to stock - Bulls Pizzle! - A bit of imagination here and you will work out what it is-.
I guess that we sell all the bits that the traditional family butcher does not use and that dogs love. A good method of recycling.
I often think that a Pet shop must smell delicious to a dog when he walkes through the front door. So many tasty smells. All too often a well trained dog will refuse to 'sit' or 'stay' and will drag his owner round the shop till he finds the meat section and then sit there drooling until his 'well trained' owner has purchased his favourite meaty treat.

Getting the beauty treatment

I was just looking at the products that we sell for pets concerning their grooming. Of course we sell brushes, combs, etc. but I didn't realise quite how like a human beauty parlour we are until I took a closer look at the hundreds of products on offer from various manufacturers of pet shampoos and toiletries.
Shampoos alone come in flavours like, pina colada, wild berry, green apple, wild cherry and baby powder scented (for puppies), not to mention tea tree, dry foam, coal tar, evening primrose, blacksatin, insecticidal etc.etc. And these wonderful smelling products aren't just for dogs, they are for other small animals such as ferrets, guinea pigs and cats.
There are the deodorant sprays to keep your pet smelling sweet, the ear cleaning lotion to keep those little ear holes tidy, the eye wipes, the toothpaste, the sweet breath tablets and more and more....
Then you get the actual items that you groom your pet with. There are dematting combs, flea combs, combs for long hair, combs for short hair, shedding combs, wire combs, rubber combs and plastic combs. The brushes too are too numerous to mention but slickers, knot busters, zooms, pins,and grooming gloves are just some of their names. And although we do not stock too many different clipping accessories we still have the traditional scissors and clippers as well as guillotine nails clippers, multicut clippers, nail files, cat claw clippers, thinning scissors, tick pickers, and stripping knives.
If your pet has a skin problem we can help too. Hot itch lotion, mite cream, skin balm, seaweed powder, dry skin oil and tea tree cream. Birds of course are not left out so we sell scaly face cream and plume spray.
I always find paw wax a bit of an interesting product as the wax that I know is the one that Ladies use to wax their legs. But this wax is used to put on dogs paws if they are cracked and damaged. I just have this strange image in my head of a dog sitting in the beauty parlour having his legs waxed!
So when you have been to our Beauty Parlour - Sorry Pet Shop. And purchased your pets beauty treatment, given him a luxurious bath and cut and filed his claws, combed his coat till it gleams and brushed his teeth then you can take him out for his usual walk only to find that because he is looking and smelling so clean and tidy he will find the nearest cow pat and decide to roll in it. Then you will have to take him home and start all over again.

Happy Hamsters

Our new consignment of baby hamsters have just arrived. As usual all are fit and healthy. They come to us from quite a distance, but they are very well cared for. They come from our supplier in their own van and the container that they travel in is well ventilated with lots of food for their journey. Much better than the accommodation provided for us humans when we travel on public transport.
All the hamsters are examined by us and then we try and sex them. Usually we get this right, but sometimes, just sometimes we make a mistake. Baby hamsters are so tiny. Russian Dwarf hamsters are even more difficult. On top of all the turning upside down to try and inspect their nether regions they squiggle too. Of course they don't enjoy the process and you have to keep an eye on their tiny teeth. Even though they are small they can still give you a nasty nip.
Anyway all are present and correct and are settling into their temporary homes very well. All too soon they will be living in their permanent residences. It is always good to see happy owners taking their new pets home. We make sure that each animal goes to its new owner with lots of details on how to care for it and a leaflet about hamster keeping. These little bundles of fur deserve only the best.

Mid Summer - it must be Christmas

Oh dear - Christmas is near. I have just received my first Christmas brochure. It is full of pet Christmas presents. Somehow I just can't face ordering 'Cat tinsel', cat or dog advent calendars of 'Raffles' the Christmas reindeer. I have only just got over the Easter rush and selling 'Doggie Easter eggs'.

Tickles tricks

Tickle - our African grey parrot is getting a lot of attention these days. During the Summer months we get quite a few overseas visitors in the Shop. They always seem to be interested in a talking parrot and will say 'Hello' when Tickle says 'Hello' to them. I just wonder if Tickle will pick up their accents and start saying 'Hello' in a sexy French voice or 'Hello' in an Irish accent, or a German one or even a Japanese sounding voice.
I think we must have had quite a few customers and been quite busy lately. He has started saying 'Can I help you?' whenever anyone comes through the shop door. This can be very amusing if there are no staff about. Customers cannot understand where this ghostly voice is coming from. If that isn't bad enough he can do a good imitation of a mobile phone too. Which makes many a customer search in their pocket or bag thinking their phone is ringing. He also copies our shop phone making us rush to answer it. When we pick it up Tickle then proceeds to say 'Hello' in his telephone answering voice. All very confusing for busy staff members. - But fun too!

General Monday morning moan

I have just heard that our local Council is going to charge us for putting things on the pavement outside our shop. This applies to all the shops in the town. £250 per store per year does not seem too much for some big chain store, but in the town where I trade an awful lot of shops are empty so trade is not that good. Only last year the Council was trying to encourage the Cafe Culture. 'Make the town more interesting and welcoming it said'. I guess we will all have to pay this new 'Tax' - where else can I display my larger items like rabbit hutches. In a way I don't object to the new 'tax' that much. Its just the strange thinking behind it. We are a small town with not too many shops. This new 'Tax' will have to be administered. That means probably a Secretary to send out the forms for written permission for a licence. A Licencing Officer to come out and check you are complying with the Licencing instructions and a person to collect the licence money every year. So lets see. That is at least 3 people, maybe 4? the Council need to pay to collect £250 from town Traders. Work out how much it costs to employ 3 to 4 people, how may shops there are and how much is going to be collected and it seems to me to be peanuts. Is is worth the hassle?
And all this extra when we already pay the Council to have our rubbish removed and are not allowed to even take it to the tip ourselves (they charge us there too) on top of large business rates.
Who would be in Business?

Colour Co-ordinated Canines

How come we never stock the correct product? You can guarantee that when we stock a certain type of dog lead that comes in all of the colours under the sun we never have the colour that the customer wants. We may have it in the correct length, the correct width, with the correct handle and the correct clip, but it will not be the correct colour. Time and again we hear 'It's the wrong colour it won't go with my car/ my dogs eyes/my dogs bed/etc.' The best one yet was the gent who came into the shop for a dog bed. It was about the time that the Labour Government had just come back into power. Anyway - the Gent wanted a dog bed. He knew what type he wanted and what size. We showed him the type of dog bed that he had requested and it was the right size and was the right type. But, it was the wrong colour. The Gent said that it was 'CONSERVATIVE BLUE'. We said it was the only colour that we had at the present time, but the Gent stuck his nose in the air saying that he would not have CONSERVATIVE BLUE anywhere in his house. With that he stalked off without so much as a thank you and we have never seen him again. I do hope that he eventually found a bed in something other than blue otherwise his poor dog will still be sleeping on the cold floor.
I always feel sorry for the dogs that come in to be fitted for a warm dog coat. Often this on cold days when you know that the dog had been dragged out for a fitting and would much rather be at home in front of a warm fire. First of all we will measure the dog and then the owner will decide what type of coat the dog would like. The dog will then have a number of coats fitted one after the other to see if they fit correctly or are warm enough. Then a decision will be made as to which type of coat will be the best. - The dog meanwhile is quite enjoying the attention and the feel of the warm coats that are being placed on his back. But again all too often the owner will say 'do you have the coat that I like in pink/mauve/orange?' (or whatever colour that we do not have in stock) The reply will usually be no, but we have it in green/red/blue/grey/etc. Although we can get you a pink/mauve/orange one to order. Yes the customer will say I'll have a pink one and will collect it next week, or even 'Never mind I'll wait till you get some new designs in'. Meanwhile poor old Fido is standing there without a coat and facing a prospect of a winter shivering. He has felt the coats on his back and thought - 'mummm nice and warm, walking in the cold weather won't be so bad after all. A new coat's going to make life a lot more comfortable.' I am sure that he would not care if his new coat is lilac/pink/grey - or whatever. Just as long as he had a warm cosy coat on his back. Fashion accessory he is not, ready for comfort - he is.

Diets, Dogs and Dames

Yesterday a regular customer came into the shop accompanied by her lovely Norfolk terrier. We (staff, owner and dog) all had a bit of a chat and then dog and owner went on their way. After she had gone I remarked to one of our staff members that the little dog had put on a bit of weight. We thought this was because the dog was getting a little older and and maybe not quite as active as she had been. Also she had had a recent hair cut which made her look a little 'plumper'. 'Perhaps she needed a week or two on a diet?' - I said.
Little did I know that there were two other female customers in the shop while I was saying this. They had overheard our entire conversation regarding weights and diets, and put two and two together. The Ladies had not heard us referring to the dog, and thought we were talking about them! We hastily explained that we were talking about the previous customers dog, but I am sure they did not believe us. Next time I will keep my mouth firmly shut and my thought to myself.

Births, deaths and marriages - well almost!

The holiday seasons come and go and because we look after small animals and birds when their owners go on their holidays we get to see our regular boarders once again.

Many come to us year after year often having been purchased from us in the first place. It is always nice to see our old friends back again and sometimes I think that they like to see us again too. We usually know their little likes and dislikes and most of their little foibles. All are known by name so if a member of staff says 'Sugar' or 'Bubble and Squeak' are coming in next week we know exactly who they are.
One of my all time favourites must be 'Derek' the Rex rabbit. He came to us for his holidays for many, many years only stopping when he eventually went to that great rabbit warren in the sky. 'Derek' was a lovely cuddly rabbit, he had gingery coloured fur that was quite short but felt like Velvet when you stroked him. His long ginger ears were just made to be tickled and his narrow face made him look like some creature in Alice in Wonderland.
Derek always seemed to enjoy his little holidays breaks with us, but one year he had a vacation of a lifetime. At about the same time as Derek was due to arrive for yet another holiday there was a female rabbit arriving for her holidays too. Now the owner of the female rabbit had asked me sometime earlier if we had a male rabbit that her female could be mated with. The Lady had wanted her rabbit to have a litter of kittens (baby rabbits). Normally I do not encourage random breeding, but this Lady was a sensible person who wanted her children to learn about reproduction and how to care for young rabbits. She also had found homes for all the young rabbits before they were even born, so I thought that I could help. I had a quick word with Dereks owner before she left for her holidays asking her if Derek would like to 'offer his services'. The answer was 'yes'.
Wow, - Did Derek have a good holiday that year? I am sure that when I looked in on Derek and is girlfriend a little while later they both looked very happy. In fact I could have sworn I saw Derek wink.
Some weeks later and back at home the female rabbit gave birth to a lovely litter of gingery long eared rabbits. Her owner reported that Mother and babies were doing well and a eight weeks after that all had been found caring homes.
I can't help thinking that now many years later there are still some of Dereks great-great grandchildren maybe coming into the shop for their holidays. I always take a long look at any that are remotely gingery with a velvet coat and long lanky ears that are just waiting to be tickled.

Questions and Internet

I think that everyone that comes into the shop must have a tale to tell about their pet. We often get the complete life story of a favourite cat, dog, bird or even fish. This can all be very interesting but a little difficult to say the least if their is a queue of customers behind the story teller waiting to pay for their purchases.
We really are a nation of animal lovers. Everyone has their own opinions and ideas about animal welfare, husbandry and just about everything else that concerns animals. This is where the Internet can be a great help, but also a great hindrance. All too often a customer will ask us for information. i.e. about looking after a new pet or what type of food to use. We will in all good faith try and help, and if we have the written documentation we will often give the enquiring customer a relevant leaflet. Then sometime later the customer will return and say that he has looked up his question on the Internet and it says ........... This may vary a great deal from what we have said, or it may just vary a bit, or it may be just the same information that we have given but is worded differently. Generally we get it about right as my staff have all been trained in animal management and welfare. But on the Internet there are hundreds of opinions and 'dos and don'ts'. Lots of sites saying different things. One site will tell you that certain types of fish or reptiles do not need heat when we know that they do. The reason that the site says 'no heat' is probably because it come from some tropical country that is hot all year round. Or different animals and birds are called by different names in different countries. I think in some larger countries animals or birds have different names depending as to which state they are in. All very confusing. I guess there are no hard and fast rules so no one can solve the problem. I just hope that common sense wins in the end.

Parrots and Parasols

Over the last few days the weather has been quite warm. Lots of sunshine and a few fluffy clouds. The temperature is about right for our animals and birds. They all seem to be 'comfortable'. I guess it is the 'Goldilocks syndrome' - not too hot and not too cold.
So we thought we would give our two parrots a change of scene and put them outside the shop for a couple of hours to soak up the suns rays.
Sitting in their large cages at either side of the front door made them look like a 'guard of honour' for anyone entering the shop. They just loved the attention they got from passers by.
Everyone stopped to talk to them and even passing motorists wound down their windows to shout 'hello' or whistle. It really seems to lighten a great many peoples day, especially when Tickle was shouting 'hello' or 'give us a kiss', or wolf whistling.
They will be outside again in the next few days - weather permitting as both parrots seemed to have enjoyed themselves immensely. I have even managed to get hold of a parasol that attaches to Tickles cage just in case the sun gets too strong.

Its all in the name.

We had a rather large delivery today of an assortment of products. Nothing unusual in that, but it set me thinking. - What strange names some of our pet products have. Kongs, Chubleez, Snuggle Factor, Critter Chopper, Perfection, Rogz for dogs, Paddywack, Muffins, (for small animals), Calypso Cricket Dust, Rug patrol, Gaylets, Flying Calf Frizbee, Chicken on a Rope, Orkas, Twisters, Wee wee Pads. - The list is endless. Some are simply self explanatory, but others are really strange. Do the manufacturers have teams of their employees making up these strange names and do they award prizes for the oddest?
But I guess the strangest names are those of the animal housing. Bird cages and hamster cages. We had a number of hamster cages delivered and they had names such as Chealsea, Paddington, Bayswater, Westminster, Kew, Pall Mall and Picadilly. I couldn't help but think that they did not have any cages named after the more run down areas of London. No Old Kent Road, or Peckhams or Elephant and Castle. I wonder why? At least they are easy to understand. Why would anyone call a cage a 'duffy'? Sounds a bit 'duff' to me or a 'Yole'? All very weird, but they are good sellers nevertheless.
Guess I should get back to my ordering instead of musing on strange names for pet products - 'Dried earthworms to go' have been requested by a customer. Hope she is going to feed them to her garden birds and not use them for some strange brew. Maybe she would prefere some 'Insect Patee' instead.

'Little Accidents'

When you own a Pet Shop you become rather used to cleaning up all sorts of mess, but yesterday I must admit was a little different. We are certainly used to cleaning out messy pens, scraping, cleaning and disinfecting is certainly nothing new to us. Nearly everyday someone or or other is up to their elbows in buckets of hot water and cleaning fluids. It is always satisfying to see freshly cleaned out cages or pens with happy occupants waiting to untidy the whole lot for you to clean out again. That's just the way life in a Pet Shop is. Once you have cleaned something up then you go on to the next and clean something else up. Animal pens, shelves, cages, floors etc. etc. - all have to be cleaned, and if you work for me you will soon discover that 'this or that' needs cleaning. In my line of work in my opinion no matter how hard you clean and tidy it can't be enough. Keeping animals is a dirty business and I like to make sure that my business isn't dirty.
Now if you bring a puppy into the shop and it has an 'accident' then we don't mind. We are used to bringing out the mop and bucket and giving the floor a good clean. But I must admit that I am not used to bringing out the mop and bucket for human offspring. Yesterday such an incident happened. A Mother was in the shop with her two little girls. The children had been brought in to look at the pets. Mother and daughters were taking their time when all of a sudden the eldest of the children said in a loud voice that she was feeling sick. Quick as a flash I rushed to the kitchen to grab a bucket. I placed it in front of the poor child just in time for her to return her breakfast. And then I was handed back the offending bucket which I speedily took back into the kitchen to be washed and disinfected. Mother and children then spent a bit more time looking around the shop with me following close behind with another bucket. Then off they went on their way. Saying they had some more shopping to do -Fortunately incidents like that are rare, but nothing surprises me. - Just another day in the mad world of running a Pet Shop.

Jemima

Yes, can't nature be cruel? As I said in my previous Post I have a great view from my window as I work in my office at home. Our rather overgrown garden (I really must try and spend more time tidying it up) tumbles down to a river where there is always something interesting going on. It makes it so much easier to do mundane things like the VAT or paying invoices or checking tax returns when I can glance up and see the wild birds or even just watch people walking or playing with their dogs on the bank opposite.
The day before yesterday I was in the garden - unfortunately not tidying up, but just feeding the fish in the pond. I heard a loud sort of quacking noise and there at the edge of the river was 'Jemima'. Now 'Jemima' is an ordinary white duck who has lived on the river for a number of years, and as we are regular duck feeders we always recognise 'Jemima' because she is white. You can't miss her because as a white duck amongst all the other ordinary Mallard ducks she sticks out as they say 'like a sore thumb'. But there she was - the day before yesterday- at the edge of the river with a brood of four tiny ducklings. All little brown round balls skidding across the water at high speed. Jemima fussed about them and kept them close to her as she ventured nearer to us for a quick piece of bread. Then after a few minutes she was off down the river again with her new family quacking as she went and waiting from time to time for the last ducking to catch up with its brothers and sisters. Now we often see ducklings at this time of year, but to see 'Jemima' with her brood really made me feel good. I had always thought that 'Jemima' had been a drake, and was often seen having rather nasty fights with other ducks that she hung around with. (The name Jemima comes from Beatrix Potters-Jemima puddle duck and it had always been a family joke that we thought she was a he, Jemima that is not Beatrix! - all very confusing.) Well regarding the duck I guess I was wrong on both counts. She was after all a female duck and I think that the fights may have been other male ducks trying to mate with her. How wrong had I been?
But this morning disaster had struck. I saw 'Jemima' paddling slowly up the river all on her own. During the night I had woken to hear lots of ducks quacking and wings flapping. There was nothing I could do, and besides we often hear ducks or birds or dogs so there was nothing new. I didn't even think of 'Jemima'. But the noise must have been Jemima trying to protect her ducklings from some predator. Maybe a mink or a cat or a heron? Who knows? Those tiny creatures are all gone. How sad that they only got to see life for a couple of short days. I guess they made some tasty snack for some predators family. Poor, poor Jemima.
Maybe when I saw her paddeling back up river Jemima was heading back to her old nest and will try and raise some more ducklings in the weeks to come. Obviously she had picked a good spot to sit on her eggs. At least they had hatched safely. I just hope that if she is successful she will be more careful next time. I think that she stands out more than other ducks and is an easy target for passing duckling eaters. I guess it would be quite easy to spot a white duck at night. But I shall be watching and waiting. Nothing I can do, but to see her with a healthy family would make my Summer.