Since we moved the ducklings outside into the halfway house, Squeak has taken to hanging outside their run. He’s a lonely duck.

After ten days living outdoors, we gave the ducklings a bit of freedom to start the unification process with Squeak. They didn’t seem to know what to do with themselves, so they noodled about the yard.

Eventually they landed in the mortar box. Squeak came to visit and to do a bit of posturing.

He wandered up to join them.

Only to be chased away.

Not just once, but twice. Poor Squeak. He just wants to be friends.

It took a little coaxing from Hannah to get the babies into the pond. It took them a while to discover that they actually liked the pond. They chased Squeak away there too.

Ultimately, they showed a bit of tolerance if not friendship. The babies spend all afternoon in the pond. When dinner time came, we tried to lure them out. Squeak cooperated as usual, but the baby ducks stubbornly remained in the pond. Hannah and I spent the better part of an hour trying to coax them in with treats. We resorted to spraying the garden hose at them to encourage them to hop out. We circled around them tried to herd them with sticks. All to no avail while we were eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Fed up, Paul suggested that we simply leave them until later – that they might come out on their own when it gets dark. Worried, Hannah would not let it go. After hours, exasperated with trying to lead them to safety for the night, she pulled out the big guns. She changed into old clothes, pulled on a pair of sneakers destined for the trash bin and waded into the mucky duck pond after them.

Up to her knees in muck, slip sliding along using a hoe for a walking stick to keep upright, she finally scared the ducks out – along with all of the frogs. The ducklings are now safely tucked back into the halfway house – with little hope of  another romp tomorrow. They are grounded.

Hannah has been sprayed down with the garden hose and disinfected. What we’ll do for our critters!