It's been three weeks since I bought four ducks at a local livestock market in Bringket which is on the outskirts of Tabanan in central Bali. I have always loved ducks. They have a fascinated curiosity and are pretty friendly towards humans without being sycophantic like dogs or aloof like cats. I have never lived with a prey-species before, always having had cats and dogs; and the behaviour of ducks has been very sweet and interesting to observe. My two children adore them and, as I hoped, it has given them an opportunity to develop their sense of responsibility for their care.
This is the box in Bringket Market from which I chose our four ducks.
My children reacted to their arrival with the great excitement I had hoped they would feel.
Very quickly they became comfortable and familiar in their new environment. Normally, these ducks would have joined a herd in a local rice paddy, and they do like to root around in muddy puddles, hunting for plants and small creatures. In the photo above, from the left, they are Norman, Blondie, Princess and Chocolate.
This is the habitat which is the first thing I have made by hand for more than twenty years! I was surprised that it was such a long time but it was great fun planning and executing the design.
They absolutely love their pond and often use it as a place from which to observe us.
Norman is very curious about us and loves to see us from up close.
This is my daughter Jemima with Blondie Yellowfeather. Blondie is very friendly and seems to like Jemima best of all.
This is Princess Crownie, named for the puffball of soft feathers on her/his head. Apart from her crown, she has the same colouration as Norman.
Their pond was getting too small so today we dug it out a little and now there is room for all of them to bathe simultaneously.
Sometimes it takes all day to get your ducks in a row, but when you do, it was well worth the wait! It has become a new daily meditation for me to just sit and watch them at play. They are totally absorbing and (seem to be) completely unrelated to anything else going on in the world. It's a little slice of paradise!