A Rare Moment with Anna Maria

Day 330 of 365

If you follow the blog, you know about Anna Maria and how she doesn’t trust me after I rehabilitated her in 2019. She just never forgave me for all the medicine and health inspections. Tragically, it was kind of like I was a part of her trauma, though I was healing her and trying to be so good to her. It’s just a hard thing for a skittish duck to go through. Poor, sweet girl. You may also know that she is going blind, most likely as a result of her injuries when she was young.

I just attributed her strange behavior lately to her going blind. I am not so sure now.

Lately, Anna Maria has been getting closer to me. Not only does she not run from me very much anymore, but she also, sometimes, seems like she wants to get closer to me. I would freeze when this would happen, confused, and it was like she was thinking about coming up to me but just couldn’t do it. This seemed very strange to me. She usually wants nothing to do with me unless I have lettuce–and even then I just better hand over the lettuce and not speak about or make any sudden moves.

Tonight was a miracle! She came to me and stood at my feet, and when I reached to touch her, she stayed. So I picked her up! I had to make sure she wasn’t injured, but mostly it just felt like magic holding that wild, skittish, magnificent creature. It was like a wild animal gracing me with her presence.

She’s so, so beautiful! Those chocolate and white feathers are amazing!

When I got over my awe of her, I realized I had better health check her. She has NEVER had a single one since 2019. I couldn’t come near her without her running away, terrified, like I was a monster for sure. It’s always been kind of heartbreaking to me, but I have learned to love her on her terms and not mine. So this was the first time since 2019 I have touched her more than sneaking some light feet and feather touches this winter to see how blind she is.

I didn’t find anything wrong. Her feet felt fine. Her abdomen didn’t seem swollen. Her eyes looked good. I don’t know what happened tonight, but for a minute, I held a magical creature. I sure hope she’s okay.

When I sat her down, she ran toward the duck house but not as quickly as I thought she might. When the mud is gone, I am going to go sit in the grass and see if she will come see me and sit on me like the other ducks will in the summer. She never has. Wouldn’t it be the best ever if she did?