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- #11
- Dec 10, 2014
- 24
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- 24
I meant to share what happened with all the folks who provided suggestions. This is a long story with some strange twists...
I had my wildlife camera, which is motion activated, trained on the nest and I found that a raccoon had visited the nest around 7PM one evening when the mom had left to eat. He stole an egg, and ate it about 5 feet away from the nest and then left.
When Mom returned, she was puzzled and knew that something had happened but she went back to the sit on the nest. Later that night the raccoon did come back, and he did again the next two evenings. Both times, the mom hissed and flapped her wings and actually scared the raccoon away! I named her Brave Heart because she certainly was brave in the face of a much bigger raccoon.
At that point, I did sprinkle Cayenne pepper around the nest and I made a wide circle of ammonia about 15 feet away from the nest. It didn't bother the mom at all. And for a few days, there was no activity with the raccoon.
But then he was back for another try and she scared him away again! Right after that the eggs hatched and she had 9 little babies. Later on the day they were born, Brave Heart brought them into my backyard to eat.
As I was photographing them from a distance so as not to scare them, I saw Brave Heart run toward me and it was because a raccoon had dashed out about 5 feet from me and was charging toward her babies! This raccoon simply would not give up but Brave Heart scared him away yet again! She was amazing!
At that point she left with the babies and I did not expect to see them again. But three days later she was back with them to eat. She still had all 9 which is pretty amazing. After several days of seeing them every day, they disappeared for about 5 days and then I saw Brave Heart without any babies at all. I was so sad that she had lost them after all of that struggle.
Now the story gets even stranger. Fully 2 weeks after Brave Heart came back without the babies, I saw the babies alone in my backyard. That was yesterday. Now there were 7 of them. They were surviving on their own with no mom at less than a month old!!! One of them was leading the others but they still look so small.
How could they have gotten separated from mom? Did she abandon them? That seems unlikely because of how good a mom she was but I don't know. How are the poor motherless babies managing?
Brave Heart still comes to the backyard daily to eat, usually several times a day. I just hope the babies come at the same time and they can be reunited. I don't know if that would work out but I can hope. It's never dull with Muscovies. Stay tuned...
I had my wildlife camera, which is motion activated, trained on the nest and I found that a raccoon had visited the nest around 7PM one evening when the mom had left to eat. He stole an egg, and ate it about 5 feet away from the nest and then left.
When Mom returned, she was puzzled and knew that something had happened but she went back to the sit on the nest. Later that night the raccoon did come back, and he did again the next two evenings. Both times, the mom hissed and flapped her wings and actually scared the raccoon away! I named her Brave Heart because she certainly was brave in the face of a much bigger raccoon.
At that point, I did sprinkle Cayenne pepper around the nest and I made a wide circle of ammonia about 15 feet away from the nest. It didn't bother the mom at all. And for a few days, there was no activity with the raccoon.
But then he was back for another try and she scared him away again! Right after that the eggs hatched and she had 9 little babies. Later on the day they were born, Brave Heart brought them into my backyard to eat.
As I was photographing them from a distance so as not to scare them, I saw Brave Heart run toward me and it was because a raccoon had dashed out about 5 feet from me and was charging toward her babies! This raccoon simply would not give up but Brave Heart scared him away yet again! She was amazing!
At that point she left with the babies and I did not expect to see them again. But three days later she was back with them to eat. She still had all 9 which is pretty amazing. After several days of seeing them every day, they disappeared for about 5 days and then I saw Brave Heart without any babies at all. I was so sad that she had lost them after all of that struggle.
Now the story gets even stranger. Fully 2 weeks after Brave Heart came back without the babies, I saw the babies alone in my backyard. That was yesterday. Now there were 7 of them. They were surviving on their own with no mom at less than a month old!!! One of them was leading the others but they still look so small.
How could they have gotten separated from mom? Did she abandon them? That seems unlikely because of how good a mom she was but I don't know. How are the poor motherless babies managing?
Brave Heart still comes to the backyard daily to eat, usually several times a day. I just hope the babies come at the same time and they can be reunited. I don't know if that would work out but I can hope. It's never dull with Muscovies. Stay tuned...
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