When young ducklings are near Main Street, they can’t jump up the 8-10″ to get up on the sidewalk. They have to be 3-4 weeks old to do that. Once they are big enough to see over the top, you’ll see their heads pop up and down like hand puppets (above). They want to come up so badly. They can see adult ducks being fed up there and they want to join them.
Almost nightly, a muskrat will pass by on his way to the south end of the pond to look for piles of cracked corn that are often there waiting for him. Sometimes, this chap will stop near the ducklings to see if there is any food he can snatch. Muskrats and ducks get along pretty well but hens will sometimes chase them away if their babies are young. Otherwise, this rodent is sort of a stagehand at the puppet show.
