I’ve never heard of a mink or weasel in this area. Our son said he saw an animal half the size of our smaller dog, which would have made it at least 25 lbs., come back to the pen a couple of hours after the attack, but it ran off when he turned a light on. We live in the middle of a mid-sized city with a fairly dense population. My son didn’t think it was a raccoon, but it had also started to snow and he may not be the best judge of size in the dark in the snow.
Whatever it was, it went for each duck’s face or head. I ended up taking them to the emergency vet at about 2:30 a.m., because Nipper kept bleeding and looked like she was going downhill. The local avian vet met me at his office, which turned out to be less than a mile from my house, and examined and treated all three.
Nipper’s bill has been punctured and pulled hard and isn’t completely stable. He gave her antibiotics and steroids to help her replenish the red blood cells that she has been losing. She is the most seriously injured and her recovery is dicey. The vet didn’t clean her or the others up to avoid any more trauma than necessary.
Flipper has small punctures on her upper bill and a swollen side of her face and just got antibiotics. She is the least injured and the most outraged.
Feisty Girl has a gash on the top of her head that needs sutures, so I’m taking her back this morning for a light anesthesia so the vet can clean and stitch the wound. She is getting antibiotics, too. The vet gave shots last night and will give me liquid for them when I take Feisty Girl in.
It’s probably ridiculous to spend the money for emergency vet care, but I thought it was necessary to try to save them. If infection were to set in, I don’t think any of them would have a lot of strength to survive it. They are still in shock, but they are safe and warm. All of their eyes look good.
We got another five inches of snow overnight, so no tracks will be visible. We didn’t see any last night by flashlight. Our dogs started barking when I let them out as soon as we got home from church last night, so they may have interrupted the attack. In the light of day, I should be able to get a better idea of how something got in and fix it.
All three ducks are alive and at least moving this morning and they have started talking to each other. I don’t think they are drinking and I haven’t fed them yet. I’m going to wait until after the vet this morning.
