Oh my, bless you. I wish you had a little 'watch donkey'. Around here they use donkeys to watch over herds. The donkeys have a powerful kick and a very loud honker day and night when danger approaches. If you could get a large breed puppie and teach him/her to love the ducks, he could grow up to keep the "big kitties" away. My grandparents use to have bobcats/mountain lions in North Alabama. They had dogs, donkeys, and guns. No more "big kitties".

So sorry for your precious pet ducks. What a brave husband. Bless your hearts. susie

oh, how heartbreaking......bless your husband for getting Felix back home tho.

A 'watch donkey' sounds like a great idea!
hugs, Karen

Oh, I'm so sorry about Jinxie. I hope that he makes it. Keep us posted. What a wonderful husband you have!
kathy

No donkeys allowed. Altho I have 2 and a half acres I live in a residential area . Having the ducks is pushing it.
The bobcats are just not afraid of people anymore.
An update. He seems weak but still holding his own,h e lost alot of blood. He was resting and Jinxie had been setting on her eggs earlier.
BUT>>>>>The last time I checked, Felix was on the eggs. It was as if he wanted his lineage to continue.
Hes NEVER showed any interest in the eggs before.

I am so sorry, I will keep little Felix in my prayers. Being a great animal lover and having chickens and ducks (khaki Campbell) also I really understand your distress. I have a suggestion that might help. Find yourself a Great Pyrenees these dogs are guard dogs and we use them to keep coyotoes from getting into our livestock especially goats. They will guard just about anything you put them in with.

chelcas you have mail

I am so, so sorry about Felix. I sure hope he will pull through. I do understand your anxiety and agony. We have a flock of chickens and a stray dog got into them one day and killed one of my hens....I was so angry and upset...took me hours to round up the rest of the flock. They are tough little creatures though, so hopefully your Felix will be better soon.

GP,
So sorry about your Felix. I sure hope he pulls through. Maybe he's a different duck now in a more sensitive and family way by sitting on the eggs. Let us know how he is doing. I'm sure sorry about those Bobcats that are too use to human contact. Thank goodness for Jinxie though! What a good watch duck!
Love, Jules

So sorry to hear about poor little Felix, hope he recovers completely!! Bobcats do kill people, I can't imagine chasing them. Our's out here are about 140 lbs! I saw the 2 guys that got bite in a bar when a bobcat wandered in but it looked very small. Had rabies so they are having to go through the series of rabies shots!! Dog sounds like a better idea to watch your little ducks!! Good Luck!!Jan

Ohhh so weak and sad today.He barely could walk down his plank.He looked at the water but seemed to not want to move his head. I cupped some water in my hand and placed it under his bill, nothing.
Then I remembered they need water in their nostrils so I drizzled some in. Then I gently set him in a larger container of water about 4 inches deep. he could stand in it and soon begun to drink. His eyes look very bad. When it seemed he'd had enough I turned the hose on mist( the hose was a game I played with him)
He seemed to enjoy it and I watched the water turn pink as it rinsed the dried blood from his feathers.
It was easier now to see his many wounds and I began to wonder ,had we had done the right thing by rescuing him.
BUT,,,,,,,We certainly didn't want the bobcat to have the pleasure of a duck dinner at our friend Felix's expense.
I gently placed him back in his house and he is setting on the nest of eggs again.
tanya

Poor thing... I really feel for the little guy. I had tears in my eyes reading your story.

Living in the country, we have coyote and cougar problems. Our neighbors down the road are feeding the deer and wild turkeys. This is bringing in the predatory animals as sometimes I see up to 30 deer and 50 turkeys at a time. We have heard the coyotes right outside our windows. I found deer fur everywhere the other day in our woods on the other side of our driveway. A cougar killed a deer in our other neighbor's yard. We have been bringing our Goldens and kitty in each night and watching our children carefully. I've actually seen a coyote in the daylight near our dogs' area, trying to lure them out.

Please keep us posted. This must be heart-wrenching for you. God bless and take care. Bear Hugs! Kirk

Awwwwwwwww! Poor little guy and your DH so brave to go after the bobcat! Bobcats don't get that big but I can imagine they can still do some damage if they feel threatened. I sure hope Felix manages to pull through. If not, I hope all that nest sitting pays off with a lot of happy little ducklings that take after him! I remember when I lived on the edge of a parkway, you didn't know their were coyotes around until the siren of a fire truck or police car sounded down the road. Then you'd hear dozens of them howling eerily in the woods only 30 feet from our building. People in the suburbs here have to watch out for coyotes grabbing their pets.

I have heard of Great Pyrenees being excellent guard dogs for livestock. One woman on YouTube who raises miniature goats (which are so dang cute) has one to watch over them. I think one would be a great idea to watch over your ducks! And just to let you know how formidable they can appear, my mother told me one day about the polar bear someone was walking down the road. I thought she was joking around until I saw it! This one was all white about the size of a large St. Bernard. Yet I hear they are quite sweet and gentle pets.

Today felix is no longer suffering.Our hearts are sad but we know that he is no longer suffering.
He fought a good fight and now it is just Jinxie. My hubby and I will miss him and his crazy antics terribly.
Even the dogs are depressed.
I imagine being mating season that Jinxie will probably soon have some wild drakes visit her. Hopefully being black she won't be as obvious to predators as Felix with his Snow white feathers.
RIP Felix

Felix and Jinxie in the garden in happier times
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That is so sad....I am so sorry. We have wild mallards that come to our yard every Spring and stay all summer and I feel like they are my pets too. I can't imagine how I'd feel if they were actual pets like the ones you have. Our pets are like our own flesh and blood and it hurts so much when they get hurt or die. My heart goes out to you.

Hey ya'll, I heard a delivery postman say that he was bit only one time in his entire career and that was by a chihuahua!!! lol

When we bought our empty nest cottage we had two swans on the front pond. I would go and sit for long periods of time and just watch their majesty. They were very curious of my solid white poodle possibly thinking he was a rival swan. Everywhere we would walk they would swim along with us. Coyotes killed the female one night (Luna, we have em here too). The magic of living here was gone for me and the male swan. He swam alone for a couple more months until he got his head stuck on fishing line underwater and drown. This upset the community so much that they will not replace them. I know how much you can get attached to these wonderful birds.

I'm so sorry about Felix.
I just don't understand people feeding deer in residential areas. They end up having twins if too well fed and when there are too many its bad for everyone, including the deer. We have coyotes here in NH too. They are bigger than the western ones cuz they bred with the eastern wolves that were almost extinct to the area when they arrived. Fortunately I've not seen any here in my yard.
Susie what a sad story.
kathy

I have tears of sadness for Felix and for you!