On another front, I'm going to buy some ducklings or goslings. I haven't decided which but it just struck me the other day that my pond could use some feathery friends. (Actually, I first thought about it back in 2001 but wasn't really ready for it.) These are not going to be eating birds but sort of pets.

DH offered to build a nest box/pen and I've been reading up on how to take care of them. I discovered that there are many people out there who actually have them living in their homes. I don't think DH would go for that though he is partial to birds. He likes them better than dogs. When we lived in California we had parakeets, finches and even a few button quail. We started with them in the house but they were so messy he built them an aviary outside. One of these days I may be able to find my missing photo album with all those pictures. Still, since they ended up outside, I can't imagine him letting a duck inside. Except for extreme weather conditions, like a hurricane; not too many of those this far inland fortunately!

I don't know what variety to get either. My neighbor ordered a pair of Rouen ducks for his daughter and son-in-law and said they had Pekin and at least one other type of duck available. He didn't remember what kind of geese they had for sale. Perhaps I'll get a pair of ducks and a pair of geese, I've got a few more days to think about it. I have decided on 4 birds, in case something happens to one (I do live in a wooded swamp) I won't have one poor duck pining away all alone. At the moment, however, I'm leaning towards geese since they're bigger and more intimidating to nasty wild creatures.

I'm not too worried how Luna and Rocket will react to my future birds. Rocket is old enough and trained well enough that he won't be a problem. He's gotten to the point where he'll just lay on the deck and watch even if a deer comes into the yard. Luna, on the other hand, still chases everything, though I watched her watch a squirrel today. It came right up to the feeder not 12 feet away from her and she just lay on her bed on the deck and watched. She did finally give chase though so we're going to be more careful about introductions with her. She will NOT hurt my ducks. Of that I will make sure.