The ducks, of course, loved the new pond. They still spend
countless hours poking their heads under the water, searching the
pond bottom for things to eat. Our house is located between our gar-
den and the pond, and the water is clearly visible from the kitchen
sink, as well as from the dining room on the east side of the house,
while the nearby garden is visible from the west windows. Shortly
after we built the pond, my family was working in our garden. Soon
we heard the loud honking of Canada geese in the sky overhead, and
watched as a mating pair swooped down through the trees and land-
ed on our new, tiny pond. This was quite exciting, as we realized that
we now had a place for wild waterfowl, a bonus we hadn’t really antic-
ipated. We continued working in the garden, and were quite sur-
prised to see the geese leave the pond and walk past our house toward
the garden where we were busy digging. We continued to work, and
they continued to walk toward us, eventually walking right past us
through the yard and on to the far end of the garden. When they
reached the orchard, they turned around and marched right past us
again, making their way back to the pond. To us, this was an initia-
tion for our new pond, a way that nature was telling us we had con-
tributed something positive to the environment.
Of course, it didn’t end with the two Canada geese. Soon, a
Great Blue Heron landed in the pond, wading around its shallow
edges on stilt-like legs. It was spotted by one of the children during
breakfast, a mere fifty feet from the dining room window. Then, a pair
of colorful wood ducks spent an afternoon playing in the water. This
was when I noticed that wood ducks can perch on a tree branch like
a songbird. Later, I counted 40 Canada geese on the little pond. They
covered its surface like a feathery carpet, only to suddenly fly off in a
great rush of wings.
We still raise a few ducks for algae control, for eggs and occa-
sionally for meat. At one point we raised some Mallard ducks, only to
find that this wild strain will fly away when they reach maturity. One
of the female Mallards became injured somehow, and developed a
limp. She was certainly a “lame duck,” but the children liked her and
took care of her. Then one day she completely disappeared. We
thought a predator had killed the defenseless bird and we never
expected to see her again. To the children’s delight, the following
spring a pair of wild Mallard ducks landed on our little pond. We
watched them swim around for quite some time, until the female
came out of the water and walked toward us. Or, I should say,
“limped” toward us. Our lame Mallard duck had flown away for the
The Humanure Handbook — Chapter 9: Graywater Systems 223
countless hours poking their heads under the water, searching the
pond bottom for things to eat. Our house is located between our gar-
den and the pond, and the water is clearly visible from the kitchen
sink, as well as from the dining room on the east side of the house,
while the nearby garden is visible from the west windows. Shortly
after we built the pond, my family was working in our garden. Soon
we heard the loud honking of Canada geese in the sky overhead, and
watched as a mating pair swooped down through the trees and land-
ed on our new, tiny pond. This was quite exciting, as we realized that
we now had a place for wild waterfowl, a bonus we hadn’t really antic-
ipated. We continued working in the garden, and were quite sur-
prised to see the geese leave the pond and walk past our house toward
the garden where we were busy digging. We continued to work, and
they continued to walk toward us, eventually walking right past us
through the yard and on to the far end of the garden. When they
reached the orchard, they turned around and marched right past us
again, making their way back to the pond. To us, this was an initia-
tion for our new pond, a way that nature was telling us we had con-
tributed something positive to the environment.
Of course, it didn’t end with the two Canada geese. Soon, a
Great Blue Heron landed in the pond, wading around its shallow
edges on stilt-like legs. It was spotted by one of the children during
breakfast, a mere fifty feet from the dining room window. Then, a pair
of colorful wood ducks spent an afternoon playing in the water. This
was when I noticed that wood ducks can perch on a tree branch like
a songbird. Later, I counted 40 Canada geese on the little pond. They
covered its surface like a feathery carpet, only to suddenly fly off in a
great rush of wings.
We still raise a few ducks for algae control, for eggs and occa-
sionally for meat. At one point we raised some Mallard ducks, only to
find that this wild strain will fly away when they reach maturity. One
of the female Mallards became injured somehow, and developed a
limp. She was certainly a “lame duck,” but the children liked her and
took care of her. Then one day she completely disappeared. We
thought a predator had killed the defenseless bird and we never
expected to see her again. To the children’s delight, the following
spring a pair of wild Mallard ducks landed on our little pond. We
watched them swim around for quite some time, until the female
came out of the water and walked toward us. Or, I should say,
“limped” toward us. Our lame Mallard duck had flown away for the
The Humanure Handbook — Chapter 9: Graywater Systems 223
