Majestic Waterfowl Sanctuary, 17 Barker Road, Lebanon, CT, 06249

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Majestic Diary

July 14, 2008

Exciting news today! I emailed my query letter for my "Pet Duck Guide Book" to an agent here in CT and she wants to see it! The WHOLE thing!  Unfortunately the file is way to big to email, so I had to send it to her. She wanted the hard copy, which is 440 pages double-spaced. I'm sure it will be a few weeks until I hear back from her... I hope she wants to represent it.

But to balance this news... Elijah has a very swollen toe on his right foot. I've had him on Baytril and the vet has confirmed that he has aggressive arthritis, but we brought him for another check up to see what's going on. He drew a culture and we discovered that he has a staph infection. He has such a hard time walking that he tends to plop down for an hour or so at a time in the same place--unlike ducks with healthy legs who do a lot more walking. So he tends to poop and then sits there a bit before moving along. Even though he is the most sparkling clean and white duck we have ever seen, bacteria still gets into the natural little cuts that all animals get on their feet when they walk.

Elijah is on a regimen of Tetracycline and Baytril. It is obviously bothering his stomach because he hasn't been nearly as attentive to his feathery coat. It pains me to see even the slightest smudge of dirt on them because I know it is not like him to allow it. He struggles to walk and it breaks my heart to know that we rescued him in the Fall of 2004 and he was probably hatched that year, and already, he is facing his mortality, and we are facing it with him. This one will break my heart. I can feel it coming in the back of my throat.

Still, he sits happily and swims and quacks that unique quack of his--a hoarse quack, not like any other duck. I can tell his from all the rest as I walk down to the barn. And I can't imagine what it will be like one day when I don't.

But while Glory fights fiercely for her every step, Elijah takes it in stride and resigns to sitting in the sun or under a shade tree or resting on the shore of the pond. Sometimes I find the two of them sleeping next to each other under Glory's favorite shade tree. He has always had a crush on her, but Miri will not stand for it. Lately, though, she's been allowing it.

Jezebel & Elijah "Squints" enjoying the splash of water in summer!

 

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