I just wish these critters had enough sense to cross the street side by side rather than one after another so it wouldn't take 5 minutes for all 10 of them to waddle across while traffic waits.
true...they are locked into a "everyone take your turn, one at a time" mentality.
They swim that way too. Couple years ago when a female I know of had 7 of her own, and adopted 12 more from other groups, it looked really odd seeing her swim along with 19 goslings following her, followed by an attentive gander
I don't believe that I said the nest was unguarded. Quite the contrary
Still, to answer your original question, the eggs are produced one per day. Which considering the volume of each egg in ratio to the mother's body size, is remarkable.
It would be like us expelling 6 beach balls from our bodies over a six day period
Baby ducks are cool too, in their own way. Mallard babies swim so SO fast relative to their body size, it's incredible to watch a swarm of them swimming their acrobatic stunts, they're like little race boats.
"Wood duck" ducklings are even more spectacular, since they are about the size of a quarter (lay a quarter flat, stand a dime on edge radially at some point around the circumference of the quarter, and then put feet on it, and that's about the size they are when hatched., And the Female lays her eggs high in a hollow tree, so the babies have an incredible jump job on on their very first day of life, cause the mom will force them out of the tree and to the saftey of some nearby water as soon as they hatch.
I find a lot of Mallard eggs around my creek. The dog finds some that he eats. It's tough being a duck in this area these days. There are raccoons, bobcats, coyotes, all looking for something to eat. Those little ducklings have to get it together pretty fast or they are dinner for some red-tail hawk.
I think we people have changed the way it was when it was really the wilderness. The Native Americans already affected the land by living around here for those hundreds of years. Then, whitey came along with his rifle and six-shooters. We now have nice paved roads and those good schools for all that need them.
My brother was "dog sitting" for his boss last weekend, and he told me when he let the two dogs out into the yard, he soon heard yelping and squeeling so he goes out only to find one of the dogs had a baby bunny wabbit in his jaws. My brother got the wabbit out which hopped away seemingly unaffected. After telling his boss about this, his boss called him the next day to tell him that later that day the bunny was swooped up by a hawk. Talk about your day being numbered.
Well, I'm a dog owner and I don't think it's "cute" to have my dog harass other wildlife. Does that make me an unfit dog owner? Or, maybe that would be you using that broad brush painting how dog owners in particular act. You didn't say ALL. But, didn't you mean ALL?
I do see lots of wildlife getting picked up by hawks - especially little kittens. I've seen a deer get wiped out by a mountain lion. I've seen mice - minus the head - with the cat sitting nearby licking his chops.
I walk around my forest with the dog unleashed. My wife always carries a leash along - just in case our neighbor is trying to catch coyotes. He sometimes tells me that his livestock got a visit from some coyotes and he's doing something about it. At this time, my wife pulls the leash and says "That's OK, do what you need to do." She then puts the dog on the leash - to show that she wants no trouble. I guess that's the neighborly thing to do. But, I feel that the coyotes are just trying to survive out here too. So, I just say uh-huh when the neighbor tells me what he's doing and just continue walking with the dog remaining free. If I'm told to put him on the leash, I'll do it. But, it's my dog, on my land and I don't feel a need to show others that I co-operating with whatever they want to do.
When the neighbor had the County Ranger out here, the Ranger caught my dog and gave me the dog with the rope leash attached. He was setting the trap and told me how to pull the dog's leg out of the trap if he should get caught in it. That was fine. I talked with the Ranger for about an hour about wildlife in the area and what he suggested to do about various situations. That was no problem at all. There is a way that we could all do this living together thing without wiping out all the wildlife. It does take some discussion and some knowledgeable people. I generally go along with what's in the law book.
I suppose there are many chips on my shoulder. You don't HAVE to defer to them. But, can you see how I would be reading what you said about 'dog owners in particular?' Doesn't that define a group who is acting in some way to upset the common man? I think my dog would be attracted to a group of geese sitting in the park. He'd probably respond to the situation by barking or doing something like that. I know that when he met a group of geese one time at a friend's house, they all chased him away and he got the picture pretty quickly. I'm not sure if a leash would have made his response any different. He is a dog and does chase other wildlife both to protect the family and to find food.
I adhere to the leash law when I'm in a public place. So, I think we'd agree on this subject.
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They swim that way too. Couple years ago when a female I know of had 7 of her own, and adopted 12 more from other groups, it looked really odd seeing her swim along with 19 goslings following her, followed by an attentive gander
Still, to answer your original question, the eggs are produced one per day. Which considering the volume of each egg in ratio to the mother's body size, is remarkable.
It would be like us expelling 6 beach balls from our bodies over a six day period
"Wood duck" ducklings are even more spectacular, since they are about the size of a quarter (lay a quarter flat, stand a dime on edge radially at some point around the circumference of the quarter, and then put feet on it, and that's about the size they are when hatched., And the Female lays her eggs high in a hollow tree, so the babies have an incredible jump job on on their very first day of life, cause the mom will force them out of the tree and to the saftey of some nearby water as soon as they hatch.
I think we people have changed the way it was when it was really the wilderness. The Native Americans already affected the land by living around here for those hundreds of years.
Then, whitey came along with his rifle and six-shooters. We now have nice paved roads and those good schools for all that need them.
I do see lots of wildlife getting picked up by hawks - especially little kittens. I've seen a deer get wiped out by a mountain lion. I've seen mice - minus the head - with the cat sitting nearby licking his chops.
I walk around my forest with the dog unleashed. My wife always carries a leash along - just in case our neighbor is trying to catch coyotes. He sometimes tells me that his livestock got a visit from some coyotes and he's doing something about it. At this time, my wife pulls the leash and says "That's OK, do what you need to do." She then puts the dog on the leash - to show that she wants no trouble. I guess that's the neighborly thing to do. But, I feel that the coyotes are just trying to survive out here too. So, I just say uh-huh when the neighbor tells me what he's doing and just continue walking with the dog remaining free. If I'm told to put him on the leash, I'll do it. But, it's my dog, on my land and I don't feel a need to show others that I co-operating with whatever they want to do.
When the neighbor had the County Ranger out here, the Ranger caught my dog and gave me the dog with the rope leash attached. He was setting the trap and told me how to pull the dog's leg out of the trap if he should get caught in it. That was fine. I talked with the Ranger for about an hour about wildlife in the area and what he suggested to do about various situations. That was no problem at all. There is a way that we could all do this living together thing without wiping out all the wildlife. It does take some discussion and some knowledgeable people. I generally go along with what's in the law book.
I adhere to the leash law when I'm in a public place. So, I think we'd agree on this subject.