Duck Wars.... D DAY!!

Fed up with a deck and pool floor full of duck droppings I decided to open the 2012 campaign against our uninvited little summering feathered nuisances. 

We paid METCOM and the “water guy” to completely fill the nicely cleaned pool to its pristine (except for the aforementioned souvenirs of the ducks) state.

We sort of pre arranged to have the “pool guys” (and lest you get uppity, they are all MEN) come by on Monday to hook up the plumbing and prepare for use by humans.  That still leaves the ongoing issues of the ducks, hence this opening maneuver.  Still somewhat reluctant to go to the crossbow and (orange sauce) solution or an alternative suggestion to employ the “SSS” method (Shoot, Shovel, and Shut up) we decided to try the ploy of the pool toys.  As I mentioned before this has some cache among various web blogs and discussions.  Low cost and somewhat low guilt, we decided it was worth a shot (ha ha).

Figuring it was our best chance to find such a thing, we made a rare trip to Wally-Mart .  We don’t go there much, and this trip once again confirmed our reluctance to shop at the place.  I know it sounds awful and generalized, but geez, the place keeps living up to their stereotype.  You see things you wish you wouldn’t, screaming kids running unsupervised, or being shouted at with profanity laced commands, or even slapped.  Anyway, our efforts did result in a seemingly good candidate for the pool.

As an aside, do those people even look real?  I would bet a fair amount that they were all photoshopped into the picture.  Think that little girl's head is attached to that body?

Anyway we unpackaged the float(s) to find incredibly tightly folded pieces of smelly plastic

and learned there was “some assembly required” meaning there was a little plastic valve on the bottom with an internal flapper valve that couldn’t be opened with lung power.  Amazingly, a concerted search of the basement finally resulted in finding what I was looking for (an extremely rare occurrence) in the form of a little foot pump that was purchased to pump up some air mattresses long pitched out.  The nozzle was inserted into the little valve, and with a little toe tapping, air flowed into the little froggies (or turtles or whatever they are supposed to represent).

Soon, with a little prayer both of the first weapons against the ducks were put in the pool

Any little wind will propel them around, so I hope it looks like they are alive and love ducks for dinner.   The damn ducks are not that smart, just persistent.  They were nowhere to be seen when I pitched our little helpers into the pool. I have to admit that I am almost afraid to look out the window now for fear of seeing them frolicking with the toys… But time will tell - one can only hope.  Where is that crossbow?… updates to follow and I guess today I don’t need to say

DFD   oops…