I didn't even know I was expecting.

Life has sprung anew in our household. The doves have successfully hatched their eggs! The whole process of these tiny little dove eggs has been insane. The first clutch of eggs didn't survive. My nephew surmises that the temperature of the cage didn't stay warm enough to allow the developing embryo to live. It was a sad day when Zeke and I realized that the mommy and daddy dove had given up on the first two eggs. They left the nest they had so carefully guarded for 18 days. Just left it high and dry. Zeke and I left the 2 eggs in the nest for about 5 more days, unprotected, but nothing happened. That's when I knew the mission would be fruitless. We removed the eggs and planned on a burial, but of course we had to know first if the eggs contained anything other than, well, yolk. So, the dissection began. I let Zeke get some tweezers and break into the egg. Sadly, we saw a tiny little dead dove. Same with the second one. We said a little prayer, Zeke told God he could have the baby doves as His pet, and we buried them (in the toilet since it's about -90 in the region right now...). The good news is that about 2 weeks later we found a new clutch of eggs in the nest (actually it's the doves' foodbowl, but, oh well...). We took good care of the eggs this time and kept them warm with a tiny space heater. Zeke watched and waited and about 17 days later.....TWO BABIES APPEARED!!! The babies are about 12 days old now and they're precious. The mommy and daddy dove take very good care of them, providing them with all the nourishment they need, and within about 2 to 3 weeks the babies will be out and about in the cage on their own. Which leads me to the ultimate question: what do I do with all of these doves???? And what do I do if little Miss Mommy Dove decides to keep on producing little chicks????????? Ummmmm, I'm all about first-hand biology experiments and everything, but I can foresee this deal becoming an overpopulation situation. Anyone want some doves? They're cute and they're free. As long as Zeke and I get visitation, that is.


So, other than populating our region with doves, Zeke has also been going to a science class on Tuesdays. He loves it and looks forward to it each week. It has mostly been about animals, so I think that could be the major attraction for him. I'll have him in veterinarian school before Pauly can sink his finance/accounting fingers into him. :)

That's it for now. I'm not feeling overly wordy, so I'll post a photo diary of the baby doves over to the side. Have fun browsing our little babies!