Conference misery::feline_v1

         Oh, wow, Elaine!  That sounds fantastic!
    
         One of our turkeys down in RI has been sitting on her eggs under
    the house (the house is built on piers) for the last three weeks.  We
    figure that next weekend should be hatching time.  She's got 17 eggs,
    so if they all hatch ... .  We've got three other hens whom we think
    are nesting elsewhere on the island, so if all of them have 17 or so
    eggs and they all hatch ... that's a lot of turkeys ;-) !!
    
         Plus we've got pheasants on the island too who are probably
    nesting, and I've got one that's been sick.  She's going to Tufts
    tomorrow and if the vet gives the okay, we'll release her back to the
    wilds of the island this weekend.  (I'll be bringing her in tomorrow to
    MRO4, so if anyone wants to see a real, live hen pheasant ...)
    
         Isn't nature great??
    
                                           - Andrea
    

    Elaine -
    
    Were there any cygnets around?  The swans were not on/near their
    nest this am.
    
    Thanks...Gary

    re: .2
    
    Gee, I don't know - from the windows near the outside thermometer,
    all I could see were mom, dad, and 5 chicks.   I'm not sure I'd
    know a cygnet if I saw one ...  Gee, baby Swans must be really
    cute.  Let me know when and where they are, if you happen to
    remember.
    
    E.T.

    I always thought baby swans were ugly....remember "The Ugly Duckling"?
      Nancy DC
    

      Re .3
      That's the correct name for a baby swan...
    
      I just bought a new "chipper/shredder" so I could get rid of a huge
    pile of brush that's been collecting in my yard for years....but I'm
    gonna have to delay things for a few weeks..
      A Mallard Duck and her mate have set up housekeeping in my brush
    pile, and they regularly dine-out at a pan of cracked corn that we've
    left in a convenient place for them...
    
      Guess the yard work will wait...
    
    
      And last Friday a mommy squirrel brought two of her babies down to
    show them how to take food from a couple of "squirrel-proof" bird
    feeders. The 'kids' were a bit awkward, but very proficient
    nevertheless...( Oh, well, they have to eat too....)
    JM

    
    ohhhhh.  Well, re the yard work - some things in this life are
    much more fun and much more important - when the guy comes to
    spread my top soil that is in a huge pile in the back, he better
    be D*^()n careful of the VERY LARGE woodchuck that lives in that
    area - she had quite a family last year - haven't seen any babes
    yet, but they are probably around!  Boy, is she(or he) huge!!!
            
    tanx,
    
    E.T.

    Looks like there won't be any baby swans for awhile.  Last year
    the female couldn't figure out how to build a nest.  This year she
    got the nest right, and though she sat on it for the required length
    of time, she forgot to lay the eggs!  She is young yet . . . maybe
    next year she'll get it right
    

    re: 7
    
    oh boy - that's something!!  The gooses and ducks don't seem
    to have much problem populating MK - just check for the green
    yukky stuff on all the paths!!!!  They are pretty, though.
    
    

    My mother lives in Rhode Island on the edge of a bay, and all sorts
    of wonderful birds -- ducks, swans, etc. have "moved in" since I
    was a tiny tot.  Is this a widespread thing in N.E.?  If so, anyone
    know why?
    

       For the bird lovers in this file:
    Springfield, MA has a vcity wide bird watch going on as a Peregrine
    Falcon has made her nest here on the 21st floor of Monarch Place!!There
    are two chicks hatched already and a third egg is waiting to hatch.
    These are the first falcons to be born in Western Mass in 41 years
    quite an accomplishment!  The parents are thaought to be two adults
    raised in captivity and released.
        /the states Endangered Species Program is watching carefully
    as the third egg needs to hatch soon so as not to be too far behind
    it's nestmates.  If it is, the parents won't take care of it.  The
    director of the program says they will take the last chick if it
    is born too late, as the Peregrines are very endangered.
    
        It was noted that if you want to watch the falcons, the local
    cable station has set up a camera so that veiwers can watch it on
    cable channel 18b.  I'll have to check it out when I get home!!
    This info comes from the Springfield Union News.
    
    Debbi

    Just thought I'd update this note!  
    
    The geese have hatched at MK01 - we have three babies so far - there
    may be more, but I didn't have time to check!
    
    E.T.

         We've got 3 white goose babies and 3 Canadian goose babies.  Don't
    know if the pond outside is an offshoot of Solomon Pond, but it seems
    to be a good place for baby geese!
    
         The white goose parents are a pain when I go to feed them (hiss,
    hiss, hiss, all hiss and no bite ;-) ), but the Canadian goose parents
    act a lot more civilized ;-) .
    
    					- Andrea

    I have mallards that visit my backyard and swim on my pool cover.
     That is fine for now but I am worried when I open the pool and
    chlorinate the water. Does anyone know if they will know that this
    is not the same water and that it is chlorinated?
    
    I thought they had their babies (maybe they did and they are on
    their own by now) as one day the male (he's beautiful wih a green
    neck) came alone, ate bird seed, swam and just hung out for a while.
    Later in the day the female came alone - so I figured he was watching
    the eggs - she ate swam, etc.  Well later on they both returned.
    So that took care of that theory.
    
    Does anyone know when they normally have their babies?  Could she
    have had them already or perhaps not be fertile?
                                
    Oliver has ignored the whole thing - he doesn't even know that there
    are birds outside let alone big ones. 
    
    Flo & Oliver

    Flo, mallards lay their eggs over a period of time and then when
    "enough" have been layed the female sits for 63 days. The male takes
    no part in this or the raising of the young. She will get off the
    nest for maybe 5 minutes the first couple of weeks but then will not
    leave the nest until all ducklings are hatched. Mallards love to
    be near houses during this period but the darn racoons usually get
    the eggs anyhow. We have waited and waited for the ducklings to come
    only to have the racoons eat the eggs at the 60th or so day.!!!!!!
    
    We had a female nest near our house several years ago and often one
    egg will hatch ahead of the rest and IF this happens the mother will
    place her bill in the opening and litterally throw the egg out of the
    nest to kill the duckling. They do this because in 24 hours that duckl-
    ing would be ready to go to the water and swim and the others wouldn't
    be hatched. Seems cruel but its save many and sacrifice one. HOWEVER we
    had a saint bernard who bought (in his mouth) the egg that was hatching
    and we took in the house and under a lamp and it hatched. We loved that
    duck so much. We named HER Guliver. All 3 cats and the 2 saint bernards
    were like here caretakers. They watched her from fuzzy yellow stage
    thru to feathers. I don't believe she ever knew she was a duck. She
    swam in the lake with us and had a dish pan under the faucet out side
    for her own pool but insisted on eating in the house with the rest of
    her. One night she wouldn't come off the lake when it got dark and that
    is when she stared her trek back to the wild state. She always did come
    up after she went back to the wild for a pat or a duck kiss, and she
     continued to be friendly with our animals until we moved from there.
    
    The ducks can swim in your cholorine pool but it is harder on the oil
    on their feathers. A pan under the down spout works good. They nest 2
    times a year. Oh yes, and they LOVE all kinds of grubs and worms. We
    keep a plank on the ground beside the garage for Guliver to feast on
    when we were out side with her.
    
    Wish we had taken pictures of all of the cute things she did and then
    written a book. (Too busy watching her do this and that.) I could go
    on and on.
    
    If you want any other info just ask.
    
    Barbara
    animals

    You might want to try asking this in UPNRTH::WILD_BIRDS (kit KP-7 to
    add the wild birds conference to your notebook).
    
    Deb

         Guess what!  My turkey (Baby) had her babies!  Fourteen little
    balls of fluff!
    
         She abandoned the runt in the nest; we tried to incubate it, but
    it died yesterday.  But the fourteen others are doing great, running
    around, playing with each other.  Baby's sister, Tiny, is helping to
    "mother" the babies too.
    
         Baby either walks around with the little ones, or lies down and
    lets them burrow under her wings.  There's always one, though, that
    peeks out from under her wing - must be a tom!
    
         Yippee!!
    
    					- Andrea

    Sounds great! Wish I had a pet turkey!!
    
    
    Lisa.
    
    

    Hey, Lisa,
    
         Maybe it's time to get Pookie an avian playmate ;-) ;-) ;-) .  Are
    there any turkey breeders in your area (or are turkeys too indigenous
    to the US?)?  All you need is a hen or two to start; they're fairly
    quiet and fun.  If you want noise (and babies) you get a tom.  I'd be
    careful with a tom, though ... if each hen produces 12-20 eggs and
    almost every egg hatches ... ;-) ;-) ;-) ...
    
         Are you zoned agricultural or residential/agricultural?  I know
    the place in RI is agricultural (where the turkeys are) but my house
    in MA is zoned residential/agricultural - I can have up to 12 birds. 
    Hmmm ... a place for them in the winter ... ;-) ;-) ;-) ...
    
    					- Andrea

    Mmmm - sounds like a good idea, but I don't think Pookie would
    approve ;-) I like the ones with wobbly bits on their beaks!
    Perhaps I could train it to peck the builders!
    
    
    Lisa plus Pookie.
    

         I can see it now ...
    
         +-------------------------------+
         |           WARNING             |
         |                               |
         |        NO TRESPASSING         |
         |                               |
         | Trained Attack Turkey on Duty |
         +-------------------------------+
    
    ;-) 8-) ;-) 8-) ;-) 8-) ;-)
    
    					- Andrea
    
    P.S.  If you want an Attack Turkey, it'll have to be a Tom.  Hens are
    too passive (unless they have growing babies).
    
    ;-) 8-) ;-) 8-) ;-) 8-) ;-)