The long awaited arrival of Matilda the Muscovy Ducks’ brood finally came to fruition this past week. For those of you who have not kept up with this summer’s lead story but are interested here are the phases we’ve been through. Phase one was a surprising event in which Matilda made a nest in a No. 3 washtub full of potting soil on a table on our back deck. Phase two was a two-week process in which Matilda deposited one egg per day into her nest totaling 14 over the course of time. Phase three was the waiting period, which consumed about a month and was punctuated with a deadly duel between me and a cotton-mouth water rattler snake who had designs on eating Matilda’s eggs.

Those events, in a duck shell, brings us up to date but if you want the details you’ll have to consult the back issues of your local paper. Just this week we have reached phase four, which was an overnight event in which 13 of those 14 eggs hatched and all of a sudden there was a baker’s dozen of little Muscovy ducklings scooting round and round in that washtub. About half of them turned out canary yellow and the other half brown with a spackling of white here and there. The little ducklings are, or course, adorable — much more so than their mother, who is not the prettiest gal in this nature saga.

For the first few days Matilda was in somewhat of a stew. I think it’s because she hasn’t quite figured out how to get her babies out of that tub, onto dry land, and of course ultimately to the pond. She’s been stomping around the deck making a kind of low quacking noise in what seems to be an attempt to tell her offspring to come out and follow her. I wasn’t really sure if that’s what it was or not. She’s also been prone to giving me some pretty nasty little hisses when I get too close but she never came at me with a full frontal assault. 

So after five days under our watchful eyes we began to make plans to remove our little posse of Muscovies by hand. The obvious problem was that Matilda took exception to any approaches by humans to even sneak a peek, much less lay a hand on her precious progeny. So we agonized over how to get them out. Ultimately Laura built a little pen out by the pond to transfer them to while Matilda was away taking a bath — a kind of pre-release location. So I picked up that washtub and set the little ones into full-blown panic but we got them safely transferred. It was the best we could do because those little dudes weren’t going to get out by themselves. Luckily Matilda didn’t show up prematurely and flog me for my efforts — maybe she’ll thank me in the long run.

So mama showed back up and I picked up one of the babies to make it squeak so Matilda could find them. She came running over and I immediately un-handed the yellow ball of feathers.

The pen didn’t really work. There were holes in it, and the little Muscovies scooted right out and joined Matilda in the yard. She gave her tail a little wag — not sure if it was a happy wag or a what-am-I-going-to-do-now-wag — and she promptly led them down to the lake where they proceeded to do some serious splashing. Made us all laugh. 

Of course nature is cruel. I’m sure some of the little ones will not make it and that’s the bittersweet part of it all. We’ve watched this entire process from start to finish from the comfort of our back door and now that it’s over no one wants it to end. Certainly don’t want to see anything bad happen to the little ones we have been waiting for all summer long — but like sending a child off to school for the first time — we have to let them go and hope for the best.

As for Matilda she has been a trooper. She sat in that bucket all summer long in the searing heat and never wavered, although I’m sure she sometimes wondered if it would ever end. She gave her unswerving loyalty and mothering instinct to hatching those eggs and now that the job is done another one begins. She must now find a way to get as many of her ducklings as possible to a point where they can take care of themselves.

A Mother’s work is never done.

Nevertheless we might all take a lesson or two from Matilda the Muscovy Duck. We should remember that love, loyalty and hard work always bring good results. 

She has set a good example and has given all of us a reason to smile during this long, hot summer.

Whatever happens to our little band of Muscovies it’s been quite a show, and I’m sorry to see it end.

Send your condolences to the grandparents at dar8589@bellsouth.net.