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Leah-Evita "Vida" was an Ancona duck who hatched
in May of 2002 and arrived at our sanctuary in May of 2003 after a breeder got
bored with her. She was named after friends "Leah" and "David" and we called her
"Vida" for short--which means "life" in Spanish. Vida arrived at our sanctuary
soon after we lost Destiny duck, and we hoped that her lively name would bring
good fortune to our sanctuary's residents.
Of course the great thing about having the name
"Evita" was having so many songs at hand to sing to her. The sanctuary favorite was:
"Don't cry for me, my duck Vida.The
truth is, I never left you;All through your wild days, your mad existence,I kept my
promise, don't keep your distance."
Majestic... where every duck has a song...
Always the life of the party and the kind of duck drakes
dream about, this little girl brought plenty of life to our sanctuary! If there
was quacking to be done, Vida was likely the one doing it!
One of our favorite things about Vida was the
happy little noises she would make while hunting for
worms or foraging in the grass. And although she would QUACK and run away from
the boys, she would occasionally make a nest during the night and dream about
hatching out her unfertilized egg. We would laugh and coax her out of the hay
and onto the pond where she would swim happily all day long.
She may not have hatched out her own duckling,
but boy did she take to the little rescued ducklings who came into our
sanctuary, especially Gulliver. Finally... the chance to be a mother!
In her later years Vida became a seeing-eye
duck to her best friend Deirdre who began losing her sight to cataracts. As Vida
walked out of the barn every morning down to the pond, we would tell Deirdre,
"Follow the white duck!" And she would...
At 10:00 p.m. on April 2010, at 8 years old, Vida became
suddenly ill with Peritonitis and died within hours of her first symptoms. Her
ashes will reside at our sanctuary among her friends where she will remain forever in
peace.
Gulliver swims along behind Vida
Vida, Deirdre & Gulliver
Deirdre "Dear Heart" or "Dear-Dear" was abandoned on a pond and
became one of our first retired rescues on
October 21, 2004. As one
of our Majestic retirees,
she
had a very important task to perform at our
sanctuary. She was the "Mother Hen" of the
flock and provided leadership and consistency to
our newcomers. She is also the lovely face on the cover of: "The Ultimate Pet
Duck Guidebook."
It is important that when newcomers arrive at
our sanctuary, they
have stable sanctuary members to show them the
ropes. New ducks gain their confidence by
watching and copying veteran ducks maneuver
through our sanctuary's pens and through daily
routines and interactions. No one was better at
being a "Mother hen" than Deirdre.
Deirdre was able to relax and enjoy her year of retirement as a few newcomers
joined our sanctuary to take over her role. Deirdre's last year was filled with
swims on the pond, spa time in our bathroom tub (followed by a nice blow dry)
and plenty of time with her boyfriends Young Jeffrey (her favorite) and Young
Matthew.
One of the most special things about Deirdre was the little patch of curly
feathers on the back of her head and neck. For some reason, in her last year of
life, those tiny, little feathers began to curl and they were one of the most
precious things we have ever seen... and we even saved a few of these treasures
after she passed away.
With cataracts in both eyes and an arthritic left knee that was slowly
deteriorating and increasing in swelling, we began to anticipate her end of life
in August of 2010. With some good pain meds and a great attitude, she surprised
us all by living a full life right up until her final moments. And then on
January 31, 2011, Dear-Dear let us know that she'd had enough. Although blind,
her eyes were tired and she no longer showed an interest in swimming in the tub
or preening afterwards.
We increased her pain meds for her final hours to keep her comfortable and
then brought her to our vet at 9:00 a.m. February 2, 2011. She responded
immediately to sedatives and then immediately to the injection following. Her
near instantaneous "letting go" assured us that indeed her time had come and she
was ready to move on.
And now... at long last... Deirdre, Vida and Jezebel are all together
again... this time with their new friend Destiny...
Alice was rescued from a pond with a dangerous and rocky shoreline--a far
cry from wonderland.
Originally, Alice was going to be matched up with one of our
adoptable drakes, but when
she and Young Jeffrey fell head over heels in love, we granted her Majestic
Retirement.
It is important when newcomers arrive, they have
stable sanctuary members like Alice to show them
the ropes. New ducks gain their confidence by
watching and copying veteran ducks maneuver
through our sanctuary's pens and through daily
routines and interactions.
No matter which new rescues come in, or who is
adopted out, these stable members provide the
flock as a whole with a comfortable level of
consistency.
Sadly... Alice passed away during emergency vet
treatment on May 29, 2013. By the time she presented
symptoms, her ovarian cancer had progressed too far.
In any case, we will remember this beautiful southern bell for all of the
joyful memories we shared together.
Nelly-Nell was a shy Pekin hen who came here
along with Jodie-Dee and a number of other hens who were rescued from
a neglectful and dangerous situation. While the other
ladies were all adopted out to wonderful new homes, we
retired Nell and Jodie to our sanctuary.
Both ladies were given the responsibility of
sanctuary mothers.
It is important when newcomers arrive, they have
stable sanctuary members to show them the ropes.
New ducks gain their confidence by watching and
copying veteran ducks maneuver through our
sanctuary's pens and through daily routines and
interactions.
No matter which new rescues come in, or who is
adopted out, these stable members provide the
flock as a whole with a comfortable level of
consistency.
Sadly, Nelly-Nell became cancer symptomatic in
late July. Her last days with us were filled
with plenty of nightcrawlers, leaf lettuce and
watermelon and then we brought her to our vet on
July 31, 2013 to
help ease her comfortably over, so she wouldn't
feel any more pain. Tay ina win, chicobee...
Jodie-Dee lived a few years longer than her
sister and was a favorite among all the ducks until, at
last, her arthritic legs and weakened body gave out on
her June 10th, 2015 at which time we helped ease her
over to see her Nelly-Nell once again.
Both of these beautiful angels will be remembered by us
forever...
Jodie-dee (L) and Nelly-Nell (R)
Jodie-dee (left) & Nelly-Nell (right)
Jodie-dee
Waverly came to
us from another shelter on August 2, 2013. She and her best friend LeeLoo were the result of an
irresponsible hatching project. Waverly was one of our sanctuary hens, responsible for teaching all of our new rescues the ropes.
Sadly, Waverly passed away unexpectedly on December 4, 2015. Because she had cancer in her toe (and under vet care), we think it may have existed elsewhere in her other organs as well.
Mercy & Kim during one of her laser therapy treatments
Mercy-Lulu was a human-imprinted rescue who we paired up with Piper. She was none to thrilled about having a duck as a boyfriend at first, but eventually decided he was pretty okay (although people were always a little more awesome to be around).
After years of being at our sanctuary, she succumbed to severe arthritis. Despite all attempts to keep her walking with hydrotherapy, Adequan injections, laser therapy, anti-inflammatory and pain medications, she eventually needed our help getting around.
We carried her to the pond every morning and then back up to the barn at night for over a year before she lost her ability to walk... and then to stand. Soon after reaching this stage of immobility, she began to lose interest in swimming.
She spent a good portion of her days under a shade tree in her playpen area up in Piper's pen. Here she enjoyed his company while being safely protected from any of his advances. On bad weather days she stayed up in the barn with her disabled friends Rilo and Ranger.
In the end, Mercy's arthritis worsened to the point she was completely disabled and medications were no longer effective in keeping her comfortable. Unable to bear seeing her unfulfilled and unable to do any of the things she used to love, we held her in our arms while she was sedated and then gently eased over to the other side on June 22, 2017.
Mercy-Lulu was always known as being one of the friendliest and FLUFFIEST ducks at our sanctuary. And... every single duck and goose at the sanctuary loved her, which is unheard of. No matter who she was penned with or beside, her pen mates and neighbors all became enamored by her. Boys loved her and girls wanted to be like her; even the extremely particular Rilo and Ranger accepted her as an exclusive friend in thier private group.
Indeed... EVERYONE loved Mercy-Lulu... and it was proclaimed loudly and with joy at our sanctuary over and over again throughout her entire stay with us.
Mercy was also the only duck here who ever fell in love with our shovel, which was so funny! She connected that the shovel dug up worms (her favorite snack along with watermelon) and she would chase after us whenever we worked in her pen. She would run over and hug it whenever she could get close enough. Such a special and funny little duck... one who brought so many people and animals so much joy...
She will be dearly missed for years and years to come...
Teaspoon came from a
location experiencing some overcrowding. She arrived at Majestic in August of
2013 with mild cataracts, which led us to believe she was already pretty old and why we retired her to our sanctuary.
Sadly, she passed away 6 years later September 10th, 2019, most likely succumbing to cancer. She breathed her last breath in Kim's arms while our vet humanely helped her cross over to the other side.
Teaspoon was named in memory
of adopted duck Smidge and in honor of her family who opened their home and
hearts to her.
Teaspoon... "More
than a Smidge, but less than a handful."
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