Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte (2004, Paperback, Reprint)

I can't tell you how many times I laughed out loud while reading this book! Amazing how one bunny lead to a life with fowl....

this man loves his animals....I am enslaved by a goose so this title is catchy...light read you can pick up and put down but has a good insight to peoples thoughts and actions...life and death of animals is always bittersweet...so is this book...hug a goose or pet today and read this book

I just finished Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte. We live by a bird refuge and enjoy seeing them year round. I bought this book because it was recommended at our annual Snow goose festival.

We live in the country and have had quite a range of animals over the years. Tarte started out with a rabbit named Binky who chewed electrical cords. None of our rabbits chewed electrical cords, but we had a dog who ate the wiring harness of our camper trailer. He ate it, wire and all! Bob Tarte and his wife Linda had several rabbits, parrots, parakeets, a dove, cats, geese, numerous ducks, and turkeys. We had pigeons and chickens, dogs, cats, geese, turkeys and ducks.

At one point Bob recorded owl hoots and played them on a tape recorder outside to see if he could attract an owl. He did, and was lucky to escape with his life (LOL). I remember the day I came home from work and saw a beautiful snowy owl perched on our antenna. I loved it. I felt so lucky to have it there -- until it became a kitten muncher. Then there was the day we looked out and saw two llamas on our front porch. It was during the Olympic games in Utah, and we told people that we had the first international visitors in the area. They were actually escapees from our neighbors. We have gotten used to having sheep in our yards and cows occasionally -- even buffalo and ostriches sometimes, but one thing I've never gotten used to is looking out our front window and seeing our lawn covered with hundreds of snow geese. It's an incredible sight.

The book also deals with losing animals to age, disease, escape, and predatory raccoons. We've lost our share of pets over the year and have a pet cemetery (not quite as elaborate as Binky's shrine, but it's there). This summer, I lost my favorite "pet" of all. No one could understand my attachment to him because I never fed him or touched him or had any contact at all with him. He was a beautiful red fox, and he lived just over the bank going down to the river behind our house. I would watch him come up over that bank and speed across our yard nearly every day. One day, I found his carcass by the side of the road, and I cried for my little fox. He had become very precious to me. My family didn't understand how I could mourn for something which wasn't mine to begin with. I think Bob would have understood.

I didn't mourn the loss of the beavers though. Early in the spring a few years ago, we realized about half of our trees were missing (about 15) and found a beaver dam in the river behind our home. We tried everything we could to save our remaining trees, included building fences around them, but the beavers wouldn't give up. We finally called the wildlife officer in the area and he came and trapped and relocated them. I didn't miss them.

Bob's book was a hoot! (Literally)