My plan last night was to mow the lawn and work in the yard while my cooler guy worked on switching me from furnace to swamp cooler. The guy showed up and did complete his work, however I did not accomplish anything other than rescuing a Mallard.
Long story short... let my pup out front when I got home and she immediately started on a mission, sniffing around the side of the house (didn't see the duck). I stepped around the side and saw him.
I named him Merlin... He was unable to fly, and after observing him just barely walking around, I realized he was severely dehydrated and hungry. I think he was in flight and saw my rain barrel and hoped for water, (but there's a screen on the barrel) so he just stayed put. I saw that he was tagged, so he was probably from the University pond, or the zoo or an area near the river.
I set a dish of water near him, and another dish of rice in water for him. He started drinking immediately and then ate a little and then back to drinking, etc. He rested for quite awhile, and when animal rescue finally showed around 9pm last night, Merlin had wizard himself away.
I'm hopeful that he finally had the energy to fly home last night and is now with his family.
