Frank: Lost and Found
Frank, on a roof top 10-blocks from home.
Frank took off yesterday around 12noon. I was at work. I hadn’t clipped his wings because he needs to be able to fly at his new forever home. Needless to say the last evening/night has sucked @$$. But I hung up about 50 signs and got a few phone calls of “sightings of the largest, strangest bird I’ve ever seen.” This morning at 6am I drove around with the top down on the bug, and FRANK FLEW RIGHT BY ME. He landed on a roof about 10 blocks from my house. I stood there with corn and tossed some corn to him but he wouldn’t come to me. So I drove home and got O’Malley in a carrier and their full breakfast set up.
Helper duck, O’Malley.
Then I found Frank again after 20 minutes and just set O’Malley out with his breakfast and said “Frank – breakfast!” He flew down off another roof top like it was another normal day.
GOT HIM!
I think I aged about 12 years overnight from worry though. Frank is safe. Frank is good. Frank is locked up until he heads to his forever home on Sunday.
I must say, there’s nothing like standing on a stranger’s lawn at 6am talking to their roof, and seeing them spy you from the window. The look of confusion and suspicion on the man’s face as I waved to him and pointed to his roof was priceless. “Oh it’s just me – fat stranger duck lady with a can of corn sprinkling it on your lawn at 6am – What? That’s not good?” Frank took off as I knocked on the man’s door and asked him if I could put my ladder against his house to get Frank down. O’Malley and I caught up with Frank about 20 minutes later a few blocks away, and that’s when Frank was ready to come down for breakfast, on ANOTHER stranger’s lawn.
Here’s a map of Frank’s excursion.
#1: Frank leaves home around 12:00noon Wednesday
#2: Frank is seen on a fence at 2pm-3:30pm
#3: Human is throwing corn on stranger’s roof to get Frank down at 6:15am Thursday
#4: O’Malley has breakfast on stranger’s lawn, and Frank flies down to join us
All good. Nothing more to see here. Crisis over, people. Thanks to all the neighbors who let me trudge through their back yards last night after dark, and thanks to everyone who called the local shelters to say “I think something escaped from the zoo.”
I’m making light of it now, but it could have ended very badly. It scared Frank and scared me for sure. Thanks also to O’Malley for helping out this morning. Good boy, O’Malley.
NOTE: I forgot to mention that as I was taking down all the “lost duck” signs, and putting up a few “duck home safe” signs, I ran across a group of 4 kids on razor scooters who had apparently formed a posse and were out investigating the disappearance of Frank the Tank. I have no doubt that if Frank wasn’t already home by then, that those kids would have found him. Thanks, kids!
21 Comments
Oh Frankie-Boy… You are Soooooo grounded!!!
Pringles says wrap a peice of paper tape around Franks wing (just the metacarpels to the radius ulna) and that will imhibit Franks flight until he goes to his new home without you having to lock him up.
Oh man what a nightmare! So he was gone all night? It’s amazing that you’ve found him alltogether! He could have gone anywhere. Maybe he even remembered the park where he used to live? I’m happy it all turned out okay, the little rascal;-)
He sure is a scovie though, inventive with a free spirit (that’s why I like them so much and that’s why we worry so much about them!
I’m sorry he was such a pain in the butt.
BAD Frank! You naughty naughty boy, making poor Tiff worry and fret and have to chase you and alarm the neighbors! Mr. Moor is right, you are indeed a ’scovy!
Good job, O’Malley! You’re a hero!
Good job, Tiff! You’re a heorine!
Pringles: What is paper tape? Can I use it on O’Malley’s bitey beak, too? Kidding. What really is paper tape?
O’Malley’s such a good kid, helping with the rescue and all. When Dewey flew over the house several years ago (our in-your-face clue that she was a Mallard not a Rouen), she was gone for 3 days. When we got a call that she was safe in a neighbor’s garage, we took Louie in a carrier to go get her. We thought she might freak out if we tried to catch her, but knew she’d go to Louie. She recognized his voice immediately and came to him right away. It was clear that he was her hero from then on and she rarely left his side. It’s good that Frank and O’Malley were buddies so he could help you out.
Oh my goodness, this started my day out with a good laugh. I’m glad Frank is back safe and sound.
it’s like a deleted scene from an old John Landis movie
I’m glad Frank dropped in for a little breakfast
You are lucky Frank! I love to fly but being a mudball buxom pekin, I only fly in my momma’s arms and in my dreams.
It was rather naughty of you to fly off, though. I only want to fly around.
crazy frank
Maybe Pringles means cloth tape, the kind you use for bandages, which you can get at the drug store.
Since everything worked out, I guess it’s OK to laugh. I’m in hysterics right now. I’m imagining how it must have been for the guy, looking out his window and seeing a woman sprinkling corn on his lawn. What if he called 911? Here’s how I think the conversation would have gone:
Dispatcher: What’s your emergency?
Dude: Uh, there’s a crazy woman on my lawn.
Dispatcher: Can you be more specific, sir?
Dude: She’s sprinkling corn and pointing at the sky. I think she’s dangerous. I mean, WTF?
Dispatcher: Sir, can you describe the woman?
Dude: Yeah, brown hair, glasses, really chewed-up jeans and slippers.
Dispatcher: Ah yes, she’s well-known to us. That’s Tiffany, also known as Crazy Duck Lady. No need to worry, sir. She’s harmless. Go back to bed. *click*
Dude: Hello? HELLO?
Sorry, Tiff, I just had to run with it.
Bad, bad boy, Frank. Here I thought you were a wise, stoic kid who played by the rules, then you just let loose and flew all around to freak your momma and your whole neighborhood out. Ten Hail Marys for you.
Good Boy, O’Malley. Saved another duck. Remember that other time you saved Flapper from the well? What a superhero you are. Heeeeere comes Ooooo-Maaaleeeee!
Pringles says – google 3M Micropore Tape – thats paper tape. Wont hurt Pringles feathers when you pull it off. Of course Pringles is perfect, has never needed tape.
Excellent. Thanks Pringles. We had 3M Durapore Tape on hand and used that. It worked great and it shows up as basically the same stuff. Good for sensitive feathers and leaves little residue when removed. Frank didn’t seem to mind it at all.
Dawn: Oh I’m with you. It was quite a sight. I don’t think I’ll ever get the look on that guy’s face out of my head. He was a little older than your scenario though – probably… 70? Imagine waking up at 6am… before you even have coffee… and looking out the window to find a lady pouring corn on your lawn and pointing to the sky. Apparently talking to herself. Yeah, that’s me! Oh, and I was wearing the same clothes as the night before, too.
” Imagine waking up at 6am… before you even have coffee… and looking out the window to find a lady pouring corn on your lawn and pointing to the sky. Apparently talking to herself. Yeah, that’s me! Oh, and I was wearing the same clothes as the night before, too.”
The same could be said about Margot Kidder or Anne Heche, but that’s a different story.
Ha ha ha, Wayne. That made me think of Anne Heche’s secret language. Which made me remember that this morning I was talking IN MUSCOVY to Frank, not English. Baaaaah bup bup bup? Whoop? Whooop? Baaaaaaaaah ha ha ha.
“Baaaaah bup bup bup? Whoop? Whooop? Baaaaaaaaah ha ha ha.”
Funny – that’s what I always figgered Nick Nolte to sound like. Of course a jug of moonshine usually comes into the picture with good ol’ Nick.
We’ve been speaking a lot in guinea pig these days:
“Boop boop boop. WHEEK WHEEK WHEEK. Boop boop.”
What great kids!
I can just imagine rounding up my friends to go on a duck-seeking adventure. I bet they were a little disappointed they didn’t find Frank, but they were probably happy he was safe too!
just catching just on the blog… what a great story.