Categories: uncategorized
Date: 22 July 2005 07:31:37
Who'd have thought a duck would be a source of inspiration.
Foxes are one English immigrant that I'm not too fond of and I mentioned last month about my lone duck that was left wounded and very lonely after a fox attack....well my neighbour had two ducks that were subjected to the same frenzy a few weeks later and they also had one survivor.
They didn't know what to do with the poor thing so brought it over to put with my lonely duck. Well their duck was a mess, a lot of feathers were missing, it had been punctured and was bleeding in at least two places and it's neck was swollen and permanently twisted in a grotesque “s” shape. It could hardly stand up and couldn't see where it was going as the eye that was twisted to the front (as a result of neck) was swollen over. It seemed the humane thing to do was to kill it but I could see a sort of desire to live in it's eye (the good one that was twisted to looking over its back) and my duck was needing company even if it was of the half dead variety.
So I kept the axe holstered. For days the duck lay on the grass, with so little movement that I often thought it was a goner. To watch it try to eat and drink with it's twisted neck was heart wrenching and it could hardly stand up.
I felt bad but.... gradually saw improvement, the duck started to eat and drink and yes! it's neck was straightening. Through the whole ordeal the "good" duck was never far away. It's a real miracle that today the two ducks are hunting around the garden and you can hardly tell the difference between them.
The food and shelter I provided helped but I believe it was the company of the other duck that really encouraged the wounded one to survive, the fact that they needed each other.
Now there's a parable for life.