Oh won't someone please think of the ducklings!

[wolfie]

ThankfullyUnfortunately it's a shallow wetland so no idiots will drown but they would have to deal with one pissed off momma duck if they tried

Fixed that for you.

Shame it could not be a Canada Goose or a Swan, then they would really learn how well a mother protects it's chicks.

Or a bear. It's amazing what "triggers" geese and what doesn't. One place I used to pick up loads had a telephone pole with a corrugated pipe full of dirt around it right in the middle of where trucks manouvered to get into the loading bay (seriously, what genius thought it would be a good place for an obstacle?). A pair of Canada Geese had nested in the space between the pole and the pipe. They'd ignore trucks manouvering, but if a driver got out to check how close to the obstacle they were, the geese went nuts.

[RealUnimportant]

Erm, how exactly does Joe Paranoid expect the ducklings to get out of the eggs without smashing the shell?!

[Lovecats]

I do worry about the ducklings, though. Especially on busy days. Crowds of people have a habit of not watching where they walk.

We have geese that spend their time around a couple small lakes. Every once in awhile you'll see a mama goose and all her little goslings over by the side of the road. I always tell them (not that they are able to understand me that when I come back that way I do not want to see any little goslings as road kill. Because those things always act like they own the road. You always come up to a couple of the grownups just kinda sauntering across the road.

[Trixie]

We have a grassy area in our parking lot where a couple of geese take up residence every year for the last few years. And every year we get people feeding the geese. And get people worrying about them. Uh, animals take better care of themselves than most people do. They're fine.

There's both geese and ducks by my apartment, I give them plenty of space or wait until they move before I drive by and usually say out the window I'm friendly and keep up the good work. Right after I moved it I tried to feed the ducks but it quickly turned into something from the Walking Dead and I haven't fed them since. They come close enough to my patio that I can enjoy watching them without bothering them.

[WishfulSpirit]

We have rabbits around here too, as well as foxes and the occasional raccoon (right in the middle of a big city too). I tell them to stay out of the road and they usually listen.

[Seanette]

Shame it could not be a Canada Goose or a Swan, then they would really learn how well a mother protects it's chicks.

I understand that in the case of swans, Daddy is every bit as protective of the little ones as Mommy is. I've also heard that a swan's wing can be strong enough to break a human arm.

[WishfulSpirit]

Swans are just MEAN in general, but especially so in defense of their babies. There are rowing crews in England and the US who won't go on the river if a swan is there.

[Soulstealer]

Swans are just MEAN in general, but especially so in defense of their babies. There are rowing crews in England and the US who won't go on the river if a swan is there.

Agreed, usually with animals you can say that the behaviour they exhibit is just nature but with swans and geese I'm convinced they're just assholes. Those rowing crews are just following their survival instincts.

[Argabarga]

Something happened between our species and geese several millennia ago.

Whatever it was, we've forgotten.


THEY HAVEN'T!

You've been warned.....

[greek_jester]

Swans are just MEAN in general, but especially so in defense of their babies. There are rowing crews in England and the US who won't go on the river if a swan is there.

It's not so much that they're mean as they're excessively territorial.

A few years back there was a swan nicknamed Mr ASBO (Antisocial Behaviour Order) on the River Cam in Cambridge; he caused so much trouble that they eventually had to move him and his mate 60 miles away. I remember seeing an interview with one of the animal control people involved, and he said that once Mr ASBO was away from the territory he was defending he was a perfect gentleman. Of course, now his son has taken up the mantel...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...River-Cam.html

[mathnerd]

It's not so much that they're mean as they're excessively territorial.

On the flip side, when I was in grad school at the U of Miami, we had a crocodile take up residence in the lake in the middle of campus. Despite the bad reputation crocs have, he kept to himself and we'd really only see him when he sunned himself on the non-working fountain in the middle of the lake. When he first arrived, we thought he was female and named him Donna, and told parents of prospective students he was welcome as long as he wasn't a Gator. After a couple years he got big enough that the school administration decided to have him removed. He'd never been aggressive, but due to his size (which was also when they started to suspect he was a he and not a she... But we still called him Donna), they thought it was best to relocate him. Turned out there actually was a female lurking about that we never saw, and they were a mated pair. It took a few attempts to relocate them, as they kept finding their way back. Still, there was never a single incident of the crocs ever being aggressive with people on campus, despite the reputation of the species.

[Mr Hero]

Sure, we'll rescue them for you. We'll send you the bill.

*ducks*

[notalwaysright]

Used to have a duck who hated me. Named Mr Drake (redundant, I know), and he'd chase me. So I'd turn around and pet him, which made him super mad, and he'd bite my hand. He could break the skin if I let him. And that was just one fat duck, so I would not mess with a swan or goose. Though I adore birds and want to pet them all the time. Oh, the Mr Drake would attack our dog, too. Thank goodness the dog was sweet.

[lordlundar]

Shame it could not be a Canada Goose or a Swan, then they would really learn how well a mother protects it's chicks.

Or a bear.

Nah, I've seen how defensive a Goose can get. I'll take the bear. I've got better odds at survival.