Tragedy

Stealthily in the night the killer slipped in and ravaged the house killing all the little ones in their sleep.  The remnants of the massacre the next morning were all too noticeable to the mothers as they returned to find their home a bloody mess.  They could not enter the house as the scene was too horrible, so they just remained outside wondering what could have happened.

We look forward to the return of wood ducks to our nesting box each Spring.  These beautiful ducks usually show up shortly after the ice is out and begin to ready the box for their eggs.  Unlike most other waterfowl they nest in tree cavities or nesting boxes.  Wood ducks are egg dumpers, so a nesting box can have up to 20 eggs and a two or three attentive hens. This year was no exception and just around April 13th they appeared and started their activity.  The gestation period for wood ducks is just about 30 days, so we have been like first time parents awaiting the day.  Since they only spend about 24 hours in the nesting box after they hatch, it is extremely difficult to catch the moment the babies drop from the box (15 feet in the air) to the sand and then scurry off to the lake and their awaiting mommas never to return.  

When we arose on Saturday, we noticed two hens and a drake on the dock.  The hens would fly toward the box and when near the hole, would veer off to land on a nearby branch.  This activity was very strange and we thought she must be trying to lure the babies to the door of the box for their free fall to the earth.  This went on for over an hour before we finally noticed the bloody eggshells on the ground below the nest.  Upon further examination, it appears a raccoon must have ravaged the nest during the night.


The two mother hens and the drake kept vigilant watch throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday to see if possibly any of their young had escaped this tragedy.  Like mourners they kept watch on the nesting box by sitting on adjacent branches or on top of the box, but would never enter in.   Today they were gone.  They have moved on for this year, without the peeping little ones they had watched over so carefully for the last month.

Nature is often very cruel to observe; the lioness capturing the injured zebra or the crocodile taking the young wildebeest in a river crossing.  The circle of life is often violent in nature, but can also be beautiful in that life is ever re-creating life.  God created all plants and animals so that they could re-create themselves over and over again.  It is the inherent beauty in our world and where we find solace in knowing that even though tragedy continues to strike, the world goes on.

The wood ducks have moved on from their tragedy and will spend the rest of their summer dabbling in the water, possibly taking care of another broods' babies and then making their migration over the winter months to warmer climes and back again in the Spring.  I will clean out the nesting box, repair the damage and put fresh cedar chips in it to welcome them back home again.  Life goes on and we have been given a sacred view of something in our own backyard!

Keep watch for the sacred is happening all around you!