Real Duck Wars
Observed by George E. Albitz

I love to watch Nature in action. Animals intrigue me and I often spy on them as they do their little daily life routines that would either bore us to death or kill us from the rigor of it all.

There was a creek that ran by a trail that I used to walk for MY daily routine. Very often it was thriving
with migrating ducks.

On the day I remember most - As I strolled along the stream I could see a little band of ducks in the water just ahead of me. They were making quite a racket and as I got closer I could see there were four of them. They were Mallards - two males and two females. I soon noticed that both of the males, and one of the females, were yelling at the other female. She was returning their shouts in a gallant, but hopeless effort. My first humorous thought was she was probably some sort of fowl home-wrecker. As the story unfolded I realized my assessment might have been correct?

As a reached a vantage point with a clear view I had to laugh as I witnessed them virtually screaming at each other. I took a little Duckanese in my college years but they seemed to be speaking a dialect I was not familiar with. I think they were Canadian Ducks as most of their phrases were, "Quack, Quack, Quack, Eh?"

Anyway I couldnt understand a word of it, but I could tell it was a very heated discussion. Suddenly the target female, after getting-it from three directions, gave up and flew away downstream. This is when it happened.

As she flew away she kept looking back over her wing and yelling nasty quacks. The other three were
revelling in their victory and didn't pay here much notice. As I said before, I did not understand a word
of what she said, but suddenly she quacked something back at them that jolted their feathers.

As if in a cartoon - The two males' heads popped straight up in the air and they looked her way in a
hilarious double take. Then they looked at each other for an instant, and then they both took off after her, quacking as they flew their frantic course of pursuit. As they flapped out of sight I could hear all three of them quacking in the distance.

What a natural marvel! This was a real life sitcom - played by Ducks! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I never would have believed it.

It's True! By George