Alfred's Cousin

For those who knew Alfred, you are so lucky. He was our rooster. Junior year at A&M, Forrest and I rescued a cute little yellow chick. We built him a coop, bought him some food, and named him Alfred. It was the end of the school year and I left for Paris for the summer. Forrest decided to watch Alfred over the summer. Alfred was the life of the party until he grew into his boisterous rooster self. Forrest's roommates were quickly thinking of ways to get rid of the him. I think they were tired of the 5am wake up calls. Luckily, fall semester was starting and I was back in town to resue Alfred. I'm not sure why I didn't think my roommates would mind a rooster. We enjoyed his company for a couple weeks, feeding him cheerios on the back patio and letting him roam free in our yard. It didn't take long for my sweet roommates to find an alternate home for Alfred, so we boxed him up with love and sent him to a beautiful farm where he could roam free and meet friends. I like to think Alfred is still enjoying a fruitful life on the farm, but let's get real, he's probably 6 feet under. Rest in peace Alfred. This past weekend, we were thrilled to see a similar creature running through our yard and more than one! It was a family of ducks! There was a mommy, a daddy, and 10 baby ducks. They just kept running around the yard, our driveway, and under fences into our neighbor's yards. I called wildlife animal control to see if we needed to help them or let them explore on their own. I found out they are black bellied ducks and they usually have their families near trees and once the babies are strong enough, migrate to water. So precious! They told me to let them enjoy my backyard and to keep my dog away.