1 indoor duck + 1 fresh cut Christmas tree + tree stand full of water = 1 wet duck + puddles on the floor
Minna has, for the last several weeks since the weather turned cold and wet, been living the high life indoors. She spends her days on the couch, eats her meals in the bathroom and sleeps on the floor in a puppy pen in my room at night. She is nearing 12 years old now and has trouble getting around and is no longer waterproof so living outside just isn't safe for her right now. She and Maggie used to live inside at night all the time, wearing diapers and hanging out in the bunny room but spending their days outdoors when they were younger but this is the first time that she has spent her days indoors as well. She gets along well with the other animals and the dogs tend to give her space so she is trusted to stay in the living room on the couch (with puppy pads down) during the daytime.
She'll sometimes get off the couch and wander into the bathroom looking for food or a drink but for the most part she stays put so imagine my surprise today when I came home from work (walking a dog) to find her sitting in my purse on the floor in the living room. I picked her up to put her back on the couch and discovered that she was soaking wet. I knew I hadn't given her a bath so where did she find the water? Following the puddles of water led me to the base of the Christmas tree. Minna had, somehow, figured out that the tree stand the tree was sitting in was full of water and had taken herself a nice little bath, happily splashing water everywhere on the living room floor before heading over to preen herself in my purse.
Ducks are much smarter than people usually give them credit for, I have found. Once they know an area has water or food they will continue to return to the area to check for food or water in the future. So now, along with our fairy lights, snowmen, and stockings that we decorate the house with it looks like I will have to add bunny gates to the list; placing them in the living room around the base of the tree just to keep Minna from taking any more baths there. Fortunately, I am adept at making bunny gates out of metal grids. I just hope Minna doesn't learn that she can push the gate aside like she does with her puppy pen as there is nothing that I can zip tie the gates to in order to keep them in place. She is nothing if not determined.
