A Duck Bit My Daughter!

Ducks are smart little devils. Once they've been fed, they remember. I guess you can call it some sort of imprinting. They definitely recognize me and Ryan because we throw bread off our deck on a regular basis. Last night we took a walk around the pond and they kept chasing us hoping we had bread. Every time we came around another bend, they'd be racing toward us.

Anyhoo, after stopping at the playground to swing, we continued on our merry way. As soon as they saw us pull into our driveway in Ryan's hot little red wagon, they raced to our yard. I went inside and got the bread. For the first time ever, we stood in the grass, surrounded by ducks, throwing them bits of bread. Big mistake. They are greedy little gobblers! One stepped on my foot and I screamed bloody murder. It was weird having a webbed foot on my bare skin. Ewww!! They were crowding Ryan hard core and I kept telling her to throw the bread away from her so they'd back off. In the midst of all that feathery commotion, I failed to notice Ryan's fatal error: she had a piece in each hand but she wasn't throwing the piece in the left hand. A duck reached up to grab it, nabbed the crust, and bit her knuckle in the process.

Oh, the sadness! The misery! "That duck bit me!!!" Her feelings were so hurt. I think her finger hurt, too, but she was mostly shocked and scared. Who knew ducks could be so vicious?! Here's where the story gets really sweet -- Snyder was with us and he jumped to Ryan's rescue. (Steve-O can't go for walks yet, so he decided to drown his sorrows at EMS and buy stuff. For me! Love that guy :) When they kept coming back, even though the bread was long put away, John gave some gentle squirts with the hose to protect Ryan. Then he filled her pool so she could wade around and the ducks wouldn't get her. He was so good with her, spraying the ducks when needed and helping her get her pool just right. She bossed him and he took it like a man. My favorite direction from her was, "I'll let you know when it's fine." Ha! John will make a good daddy some day :)

She has recovered from the trauma long enough to listen to me explain the duck wasn't trying to hurt her, he just wanted bread. She gets it and has forgiven the duck. She also didn't need John after awhile; she just ran at them screaming, "ARGH!" when they kept coming back. That's my girl :)