Re: The 'ah' factor

Penny wrote:
Steve Brooks a gribouillé dans la poussière...

We have ducks breeding every year in the courtyards at work. It's an
ex-secondary school and the courtyards have been planted with a pond
in one. Depressingly few survive. Since the courtyards are entirely
enclosed and no one has ever seen a cat in the area we put the
attrition down to the local magpies.

I have seen no ducklings in the village this year - I am assured by
others who get out more that there were some but whether they got
eaten, squashed or washed away in one of several flash-floods I
couldn't say.

Ducks are not great mothers, they wander off with the ducklings in
line behind them and never look back. I have watched them hop up a
kerb and continue walking while the ducklings try desperately to get
up the huge cliff they are faced with; waddle across a drain grid and
lose a child or two down the holes and watched strong men gathering
ducklings into a box before their mother lead them across a level
crossing with similar narrow gaps too deep for the fluff-balls to
scale.

I'd like to add to that - I find the sight of an enraged mother duck
charging a rival/threat irresistably funny. Beak an inch from the ground,
spread wings as wide as possible and charge at full pelt, quacking loudly.

--

SB


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