It's a Duck-Eat-Duck World
Last Friday, I witnessed an attempted murder.
The crime scene? Mirror Pond, Drake Park, downtown Bend, Oregon. April 14, 2006 - roughly 2pm.
The crime? The attempted drowning of a male Mallard duck by none other than a gang of fellow male Mallard ducks.
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While obviously violence is no stranger to the animal world, we generally don't think of DUCKS as savage or ferocious creatures.
The attempted drowning seemed shockingly pre-meditated and coordinated, and left me frozen in astonishment, barely able to point the camera at the spectacle. I briefly looked around for a rock to throw at the party, hoping to break it up and free the poor under-duck, but no such luck.
And as I stood there, witnessing an agitated cluster of no less than 3 to 4 ducks at any time, grabbing the victims head with their bills and holding it under water, again and again - it occured to me that it's not only a dog-eat-dog world. It's also a duck-eat-duck world.
But before someone at PETA gets their panties in a knot, please note that I said "attempted" drowning.
Yes. The duck got away. Barely, I must say (in a couple of instances I thought he wasn't going to make it for sure), but he did.
The crime scene? Mirror Pond, Drake Park, downtown Bend, Oregon. April 14, 2006 - roughly 2pm.
The crime? The attempted drowning of a male Mallard duck by none other than a gang of fellow male Mallard ducks.
While obviously violence is no stranger to the animal world, we generally don't think of DUCKS as savage or ferocious creatures.
The attempted drowning seemed shockingly pre-meditated and coordinated, and left me frozen in astonishment, barely able to point the camera at the spectacle. I briefly looked around for a rock to throw at the party, hoping to break it up and free the poor under-duck, but no such luck.
And as I stood there, witnessing an agitated cluster of no less than 3 to 4 ducks at any time, grabbing the victims head with their bills and holding it under water, again and again - it occured to me that it's not only a dog-eat-dog world. It's also a duck-eat-duck world.
But before someone at PETA gets their panties in a knot, please note that I said "attempted" drowning.
Yes. The duck got away. Barely, I must say (in a couple of instances I thought he wasn't going to make it for sure), but he did.
posted by Simone at 11:24 AM
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