I had to take little Dilly out of Louisville the other day. He really wants to be with Domino and Switch and they really like him too, but then they pick on him too much. And on the other side of the fence, Tommy Knocker, O'Malley and Obama have been picking on him too much also. I put up a fence dividing Asaru & Tiwana's pen in half and he stays there during the day. At night he gets a whole pen to himself when the barn gang go in for the night. We are really in need of a couple new homes to help make a little more space, but for now this will have to do.

We had someone email about geese that needed rescuing and when I emailed back, they never responded... which drives me crazy. Can't they at least email and say, "Thank you, but we found someone else to help." I mean something... the general lack of common courtesy from people. I get it when we're dealing with someone who has no compassion for animals; I expect their lack of courtesy--I'm prepared for it. But when someone emails all upset about some birds and begs us to help and then drops the ball when we offer it. I just don't get that. It is so thoughtless. I waited 5 days and then sent an email that said due to their lack of response, they have been removed from our waiting list and we have moved on to other birds.

And finally... to top off the day... we have dozens of eggs we're trying to donate. Someone in town gave me the name and email address of a pastor who runs a soup kitchen. I emailed him offering to bring him free eggs. He never even responded. Not even a "thank you anyway." I never understand people who depend on charity, but then turn their backs on it without respond. Anyone who offers to help support our ducks and geese by donating supplies or funds, gets a big THANK YOU from us. Even if we can't use what they want to donate (which is rare), we send out a genuine thank you for thinking of us. It makes me wonder how much help someone really needs if they can be so rude as to not even acknowledge an offer--and a pastor no less! Sheesh!

I once tried to donate $25 to a local cat shelter who tried to help us find a kitten to adopt. They didn't have a kitten, but guided me to a couple other shelters. Our emails went back and forth a few times. Then, when I asked for their address to send a check to thank them for their time, they completely ignored me and never responded again. Apparently $25 is not enough money for them to even be bothered with. I've never forgotten that because on their website they say how "desperate" they are for donations. Apparently not desperate enough to tell people where to mail the check.

I swear, if I had a million dollars, I would test someone before donating a penny. I would try donating a little something first and see how they reacted to it. If they didn't respond or turned their nose up at my offer, I'd just move along to the next shelter. I'd wait until I found that special shelter who was sincerely grateful even if they could not use the item I wanted to donate--a shelter like us who says "thank you" and then selflessly re-directs me to other shelters in the area who could benefit from my donation. Then, I would know that their hearts were truly in it and I would donate $10,000 to them. Hell, since I'm dreaming, $100,000 to them! Wha ha ha!

People say that they are so impressed with us for not "burning out" from rescue work and losing animals. I have never felt burned out by the animals. No matter how sick, no matter how hard, I always have the passion to help them and provide them with everything I can for as long as they are here. No... the ducks and geese never burn me out. And I must admit, the insensitivity of 1 out of 10 people is not nearly enough to make me hang up my towel. I won't let that one idiot sway me from my mission to help these animals. I just vent it out and then move on with a laugh.

 Oh, so... back to the extra eggs story. I never heard back from the pastor, so I put a sign on my car window that said, "Free duck eggs inquire within" Ha ha ha!  I mean we are the only exclusive domestic waterfowl sanctuary in New England, never mind in the tiny town of Lebanon. Everyone has seen my duck painted car driving around town, but today at the Post Office a car pulled up to me and asked if the eggs were fertilized.

I said, "No. They're not for hatching. They are for eating."

She said, "I'm a teacher at a tech school and I want fertile duck eggs to hatch out in class."

I said, "We definitely don't support that. That is exactly the kind of thing we try to stop. Just last fall we rescued one of our ducks from Coventry--the teacher hatched out ducklings and then they ended up on the lake. One died there."

She said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that. A friend of mine has a farm and they go there. She eats them."

I asked, "The eggs or the ducks?"

She said, "The ducks."

I said, "We are a waterfowl sanctuary. We RESCUE domestic ducks and geese." And I point to my painted car right behind me. 

She gets embarrassed and says, "Oh."

I tell her she should read, "Lemon the Duck" written by a teacher who hatched out ducklings in her classroom with a pre-arranged good home for them and then she keeps the one that hatches out with neurological issues. I said, "There's a lesson in it for everyone about the disposability of life."

I turned away and got in my car and called Tony on my cell. Did she not see my car behind me? Was she so focused on the "free eggs" that she missed everything else about it? Could she possibly be the only moron who did not recognize my car for what it is? With the website address? Rescue Unit #1 sticker? Orange bumper & tailgate and duck footprints? What the hell was she thinking? Or rather, why wasn't she thinking! And she is supposed to be a teacher. Nice job recognizing your visual cues and making an ass out of yourself. Idiot.

Well, this week I guess there were 3 insensitive people out of 10. Still... I'll be damned if any of them distract me from these lovely animals. Nope. Plus I know the next 7 people I meet will be great!