Three little ducks
was his surprise for her on Easter morning.
The kids and grandchildren were visiting from Maine and the youngest, Max, was captivated by those ducks.
They were so young, they had to be put into a cage in the hay barn, under a light to keep them warm. Max would sit on his knees and watch their every waddle.

Four days later, when she went into the barn to feed and water the baby ducks, he heard her ask, "Where did you put my ducks?"
"Oh, here they are!", she said as she reached under a mound of hay. The next thing he heard was her scream. No ducks were under that hay.
Her hand found only a very contented and happy snake.
And she was mad!
She went staight to the house to get a gun, a snake book and her cell phone. On the way back as she was loading her gun, she called her eldest son who studied herpetology.
He convinced her to spare the snake. When not eating her three little ducks, he was ridding their barns of rats and mice.
The snake had just come out of hybernation. Being thin and hungry, he found a bountiful buffet in those three little ducks. However, having eaten them, he could no longer fit through the wire mesh to escape.
To this day the snake is a permanent resident of Burnt Biscuit Ranch most recently seen with a belly full of rodents (they hope).