March 26, 2020

Why did the duck cross the street?

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I don't know, but I saw 4 cars and a truck stop and wait for the very slow mallard to complete the journey. Things are slowed down, careful, and kind.

103 comments:

Narr said...

Be kind to your web-footed friends, for a duck may be somebody's mother!

Narr
Sunny here!

rcocean said...

Ducks are very good at eating bugs and looking cute. They aren't very good at dealing with cars. We have quite a few around here, and every Spring one duck will almost fly into my windshield and only be saved when I brake in time.

Lucid-Ideas said...

I like to hunt ducks and eat them, where appropriate. But I too would never hit one with a car. Ducklings are future fare, and they need a mom!

Polyzen said...

I see Wisconsin Democrats (Milwaukee County) have announced their plan to nullify the voter ID law by using the pandemic. Turns out there’s a loophole where if you say you can’t leave the house, and you say you can’t upload your ID, you can absentee vote without ID. Now and forever. So you go online to say you cant upload. Nice job there: like shooting ducks in a barrel.

Francisco D said...

I thought everyone was to shelter in place.

Arrest that duck!

I have a duck a l'orange recipe that I want to try.

Big Mike said...

@Narr, you mean like this?

rcocean said...

"I see Wisconsin Democrats (Milwaukee County) have announced their plan to nullify the voter ID law by using the pandemic"

The Democrats: Sate, Federal, Local, along with the Obama/CLinton Federal judges just HATE voter ID laws. Passionately and insanely. But why would any sensible person be against checking voter fraud by showing ID? You need to show an ID to buy Booze and cigs.

Curious. Very Curious.

Anonymous said...

Here in FL we have lots and lots of beautiful birds that do not get cars and roads. The turkey vultures understand, but the spoonbills and egrets are clueless.

Generally they get time to cross the road.

-XC

Leland said...

That's a normal occurrence at my company's campus. The great thing is the ducks typically use the cross walks. They also tend to get on with it, so its not much of a problem.

tcrosse said...

Ducks are very good at eating bugs and looking cute.

That's a canard.

Browndog said...

In Michigan we call that normal behavior. I find it hard to believe it's even noteworthy to not run over ducks in the road.

Sebastian said...

"Why did the duck cross the street?"

Why not? The duck is not in a risk group, so should be free to move about.

rehajm said...

The early stages of becoming Chernobyl or the DMZ- one big wildlife sanctuary devoid of humans...

tcrosse said...

Meanwhile, I had to pass this along.

Ann Althouse said...

@tcrosse

I texted that to my sons and husband last night.

It’s the best thing I’d seen in a while.

Tommy Duncan said...

The duck is slow? How insensitive regarding our intellectually challenged fowl!

Nice road. Potholes anyone?

tcrosse said...

"Why did the duck cross the street?"

I long for the day when a duck can cross the street without having its motives questioned.


Ann Althouse said...

Birds wait to the last moment to move. They never seem to get hit.

Nonapod said...

Ann Althouse said...
Birds wait to the last moment to move. They never seem to get hit.


One time I almost obliterated a huge turkey vulture snacking on some road kill who refused to move until the last possible second. The guy had to have a 6 foot wing span.

Yancey Ward said...

Well, the drivers couldn't be sure the duck wasn't infected with coronavirus.

etbass said...

The problem with ducks is that they have bathroom habits like the homeless in SF.

madAsHell said...

Canadian geese seem to have hit the sweet spot: not too bright, and if you catch'em just right with your car bumper, then their heads pop off.

Curious George said...

Chicken: "Hey!"

traditionalguy said...

Duck, Duck, Go.

Slowing down is good and restful. Like. Sunday Morning Coming Down.

Gospace said...

Ann Althouse said...
Birds wait to the last moment to move. They never seem to get hit.


Not enough experience. I've had a few smaller one bounce off my windshield, luckily not at high enough speeds for them to shatter it.

A few years back one of our district's school buses had a windshield shattered by a turkey.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Why a duck?

Curious George said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
pacwest said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mark O said...

Reminds me of 1955.

pacwest said...

Why did the duck cross the street?

It was in a hurry to get to the Groucho Marx show.

BUMBLE BEE said...

They don't seem to get hit. Why do you think they're called DUCK?

JPS said...

This oddly reminds me of PJ O'Rourke's advice for driving in the third world: Slow down for donkeys, drive like hell through goats, and stop for chickens.

(The rationale was, donkeys will eventually move out of your way, you couldn't hit a goat if you tried, and a chicken running into the road is apt to be followed by a child, the way a ball would in the first world.)

Anyway, I'm glad to see such courtesy being extended to a duck.

stevew said...

A lone duck, is that unusual? Damn Canada Geese travel in large groups, though rarely on the roadways. Boy do they make a mess.

@BUMBLE BEE: now that's funny.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

https://pdlcomics.tumblr.com/post/141966738380/pigeon

Ralph L said...

The slow duck was spooked by all the quacks in the pavement.

rehajm said...

Good thing my windshield washer fluid tank was full.

When I was in high school I crested a hill in my beetle and met a dove couple in the road. One of them made it. I still feel bad...

Achilles said...

A lone duck this time of year is either very young or very sad.

I hope it is not actually alone.

Achilles said...

Ann Althouse said...
Birds wait to the last moment to move. They never seem to get hit.

Birds are fast. They can deal with stuff up to a point.

I would guess 30-40 MPH.

Over that they don't deal well.

CJinPA said...

According to this former NY Times reporter’s Twitter post, a UK expert is revising *sharply downward* his dire predictions for that country. His predicted 18-month quarantine is now ‘could subside in two to three weeks.’

Article

Kensington said...

I kind of enjoy when the geese block traffic in my neighborhood. It's kind of quaint and sweet. That said, inevitably there's one driver who impatiently muscles them off the road. I try to assume it's a doctor who's rushing to the hospital to perform emergency surgery, but it's also possible it's just an asshole.

Anthony said...

To die. In the rain.

-- Ernest Hemingway

tcrosse said...

Sequel to the dinner machine:

Here's what happened to the baby after the cake was served.

Achilles said...

Kensington said...
I kind of enjoy when the geese block traffic in my neighborhood. It's kind of quaint and sweet. That said, inevitably there's one driver who impatiently muscles them off the road. I try to assume it's a doctor who's rushing to the hospital to perform emergency surgery, but it's also possible it's just an asshole.


Trying to get the kids to school on time is another option.

I would push them off the road in the morning.

Lucien said...

I don’t know why a duck crosses the road, but the NYT has an interactive model showing that President Trump’s advice could lead to millions of duck fatalities.

Ralph L said...

I was worried the laptop had fallen on the kid.

My sister sent me this tiktok: no toilet paper, no problem.
To which I replied: Tired of yet another tossed salad? Try our new Smoothie!

Spiros said...

Everyone is nice? Hah! A cop told me that he is terrified of interacting with the randoms walking down the street. It's two per car and, next week or month, it's going to be body armor. Or, how about landlords demanding THREE months security deposit to get them past the "no eviction" provisions of the stimulus. Everybody is not being super nice to each other.

FullMoon said...

Ducks are very good at eating bugs and looking cute. They aren't very good at dealing with cars. We have quite a few around here, and every Spring one duck will almost fly into my windshield and only be saved when I brake in time.

That duck has been laughing at you every time he does that..

Mary Beth said...

People where I live stop for waterfowl, but it's usually Canada geese that are meandering across, not ducks. That way they can get to the opposite side instead of The Other Side. (I don't want to say how old I was before I realized that the chicken crossing the road joke was about death. I think it was too familiar, so that by the time I heard the phrase "the other side" to refer to death, I didn't make the connection.)

tcrosse said...

From the duck's point of view

Bill Peschel said...

That Joseph's Machine vid is the best thing I've seen in a long long time. Incredibly clever, and he played me like a pinball machine trying to anticipate what will crash and what won't.

Bill Peschel said...

OTOH, I scrolled down to see a lot of stupid people whine about how small $1,200 is, and how Trump's killing millions for the Dow Jones, so that muted my pleasure.

Clyde said...

Because he was afraid the Chinese guy on the other side of the street had run out of bats to eat.

Bruce Hayden said...

“A lone duck, is that unusual? Damn Canada Geese travel in large groups, though rarely on the roadways. Boy do they make a mess”

In another couple months, I start braking for them, because inevitably they are herding a flick of little ones across the street. I refuse to knowingly kill a flock of baby geese. Besides they are so cute when they are little. We have a park at the East end of town, right by the river, where they are big traffic problem for a month or so. But the adults have wings for a reason, and part of that reason is avoiding slowing cars and trucks down. I should have more sympathy for the infestation of pre-venisons we see, esp as they all congregate within the city limits to avail being shot by hunters. But I don’t. Supposedly, deer cause more fatalities in MT than does drunk driving.

Bob Boyd said...

Once you hit a horse, you'll never go back to deer.

Big Mike said...

Canadian geese cross as a flock. One gander seems to act as a leader/ crossing guard. People always stop.

sinz52 said...

Hey, as I mentioned once before,

at my former employer, a female Canada goose had decided to start a nest right in the driveway leading to the industrial park. And she started to lay eggs in the nest.

Because Canada geese are still considered an endangered species, we could not just kill the goose. So the industrial park put up orange cones and detoured traffic around the goose nest. Huge tractor-trailers and big SUVs kept zooming right by the nest, but the mama goose was totally unperturbed and just sat there brooding her eggs.

eventually the eggs hatched and she left the nest with them.

Iman said...

We’ve had 5 consecutive years of the same ducks nesting in the rocks and shrubbery behind our pool, with anywhere from 7 to 10 ducklings.
It’s a pain in the rear end, but the young’uns are so cute. After they hatch, they all spend a day or so in the yard and then my wife and I and mama duck herd them toward a lake two blocks away.

Always exciting, last year we had a hawk swoop down before mama duck chased it off. And as soon as they hit the water, there are large bass and catfish that both parents have to keep at bay... one year they lost them all at the lake and the parents were back at our pool within a week for another go-round.

fleg9bo said...

A lone duck this time of year is either very young or very sad.

Or likely rabid.

rehajm said...

Once you hit a horse, you'll never go back to deer.

...and Møøse hits can be pretti nasti.

Tina Trent said...

This is why it’s specially horrifying when a bird dies in front of you.

Any bird.

Lars Porsena said...

Why did the duck cross the street?
To show the possum it could be done.

tcrosse said...

This is why it’s specially horrifying when a bird dies in front of you.

Like when my Grandma killed a chicken.

walter said...

Laid off from AFLAC.

Ken B said...

“If you don’t cook the duck it won’t be safe to eat.”
“There, I cooked the duck.”
“Great. That duck looks delicious, let’s eat.”
“Hey, you told me that duck wasn’t safe to eat!”

What is the point you ask? It was Neil Ferguson giving advice.

Narr said...

My Oma cooked duck from time to time, brought by hunter friends. I remember chewing carefully, wary of the shot. It was better than the goat's milk other friends would bring.

Narr
them quackers is good eatin'

Ken B said...

I have not had duck in years come to think of it. Our cats like duck. Not as much as bunny rabbit but more than salmon.

Kay said...

Ducks are good at eating bread.

eddie willers said...

My favorite was a sloth crossing a road. Now if you waited for him to cross, you'd better have packed a lunch.

Fortunately, a motorist got out of his car and helped "Lightening" along.

Sloth waves and smiles to man that helps him cross the street

Nichevo said...

The problem is waste. If cars had a device, perhaps like a cow catcher, that could trap the animal in question and preserve it for later dining, that would be the most seamanlike solution to the problem.

effinayright said...

tcrosse said...
This is why it’s specially horrifying when a bird dies in front of you.

Like when my Grandma killed a chicken.
******************************************

My Polish Grandma kept some chickens behind her house. I once visited her with my parents when I was six or seven. To celebrate she went to the yard to pick out a hen to prepare for dinner.

I watched with horror as she swung the poor squawking critter by the neck over her head (to make it ga-ga, I guess), flopped it down onto a tree stump and ----WHACK!---with a hatchet, severed its head with a single stroke.

Then she held it away from her as blood gushed from its neck and casually started to rip off feathers by the fistful, finally using a lit newspaper to burn off the pinfeathers.

Needless to say, I never messed with Grandma after that.

Birkel said...

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/politics/uk-government-downgrade-coronavirus-as-no-longer-highly-dangerous/

"The British government has downgraded the coronavirus from being an acute infectious disease with a high case fatality rate. After reviewing the data, they have come to their senses. Moreover, a study released by Oxford finds that perhaps 50% of those in the UK have the virus and the overwhelming number experience it like the normal flu and have little symptoms. The study suggests that fewer than one in a thousand of those infected with COVID-19 become ill enough to need hospitalization."

11 MILLION DEATHS TOO LATE!!!!!
ELEVENTY!!!!
Have I now officially lost my humanity?

Mark said...

Ducks are very good at eating bugs

I'm a little late. Just getting here. Can't believe that no one else has pointed it out, though.

I'm real sure that Bugs always got the better of Mr. Duck.

n.n said...

To socially distance himself from the dodo.

Bay Area Guy said...

The shit just got real - they're postponing the Indy 500. .

The Bastards!

narciso said...

the israeli version of bugs

narciso said...

Shirley

narciso said...

originally

purplepenquin said...

But why would any sensible person be against checking voter fraud by showing ID?

Generally speaking what you say makes total sense. However, the devil is in the details.

One of the biggest objections with the WI voter ID law is that it seems to favor some groups of people (CCL license is accepted) over other groups (Most university & community college IDs are not). Another issue that is raised is that it smells kinda like a poll tax/literacy-test, being an extra burden on working-poor more-so than others.

Totally understand where you're coming from, yet I don't view those objections to be unreasonable nor foolish.

You need to show an ID to buy Booze and cigs.

Not quite true. No law says everybody has to show an ID to purchase those (27 and under are required to), but rather store policies usually require it from all customers.

Also, buying those items aren't constitutionally-protected rights. It's like saying we license automobile drivers so why not gun owners? A more honest comparison would be requiring an ID to go to church or print a newspaper. Would you support that?

(And before you ask - if I had my way we wouldn't need an ID to buy a firearm either, 'cause "background" checks would not be required by law)

Dust Bunny Queen said...
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Dust Bunny Queen said...

Re: ID for voting.(Most university & community college IDs are not)

As it should be, unless the student is REGISTERED IN THAT STATE, they should not be allowed to vote. Period. End stop. You don't (or shouldn't) get to vote in a location where you are not registered or where you are not a LEGAL resident...to prevent duplicate voting.

You live in Michigan and are registered to vote there and send in an absentee ballot for Michigan, yet you think you should be able to vote in Wisconsin because your butt is sitting in a seat at school. You don't get to vote more than ONCE.

Nope nope nope nope nope.

Pick a location and have the adult responsibility to register. It isn't rocket science. You live in a world that requires ID for even the most mundane tasks. You need ID to get WELFARE for Christ's sake. Why not to do one of the things that is granted to CITIZENS in the Constitution.

All these lame ass excuses for people who are too lazy to adult or who are trying to game the system. These excuses are only to be able to perpetrate vote fraud.

The United States needs to follow the rules that Mexico has installed. Voter ID Cards which are standard ID for everything. Try getting an ID card in Mexico if you aren't a citizen or a LEGAL RESIDENT. My family (Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles) lived there as legal residents. They could NOT VOTE, and could only get a resident card. NOT a regular ID or driver's license (Grandmother didn't drive anyway). Unlike our corrupt motor voter laws, you would get a license that CLEARLY stated you were not a Mexican Citizen.

Roughcoat said...

Is this an open thread, or are we required to stick to the topic of ducks?

Derve Swanson said...
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Mark said...

A lot of people have ducked out, others will just duck the question.

Me? I was asleep. And woke to find Adrian tied up in a van with Mr. Eko just as he did the whole "Here's what happened" thing.

Derve Swanson said...
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Derve Swanson said...
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Derve Swanson said...
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Derve Swanson said...
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purplepenquin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Derve Swanson said...
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Mark said...

Too much quackery.

purplepenquin said...

As it should be, unless the student is REGISTERED IN THAT STATE, they should not be allowed to vote. Period. End stop. You don't (or shouldn't) get to vote in a location where you are not registered

Here in WI, you're not allowed to vote if you're not registered to vote. Is it different where you live?

These excuses are only to be able to perpetrate vote fraud.

*rolls eyes*

They are real & valid concerns - to dismiss them 'cause you simply assume evilness on my part is absurd.

Seriously - there is no reasoning with your kind of mentality.

purplepenquin said...

You need ID to get WELFARE for Christ's sake

You sure about that? From what I understand, when applying for SNAP or WIC you are required to verify your identity, but a photo ID is not required....

Achilles said...

China blocks all foreigners from entering the Country.

It is game time people.

The real shit is about to start.

This COVID-19 stuff was just the warm up.

The globalists are about to make their final play.

Achilles said...

Figures.

purplepenquin said...

If the purpose of the globalists are open borders, then how does China closing their borders fit into their plans?

Birkel said...

China is closing its borders because it does not want truth to escape.

The big business Chamber of Commerce types who thought they had bought monopoly protections from the Deep State may now be forced to compete. The rules they paid to have in place to strangle competition are in danger. Good.

Nichevo said...


purplepenquin said...
You need ID to get WELFARE for Christ's sake

You sure about that? From what I understand, when applying for SNAP or WIC you are required to verify your identity, but a photo ID is not required....



Mr. Penquin, you are mistaken, at least in New York State. A driver's license fulfils two of the three forms of ID needed for SNAP, but you also need something like a current mail or utility bill. Can you sub other for the DL? Maybe, but they are other things like passports and BCs. No malarkey.

AZ Bob said...

I like the way the glare from the headlight makes an attractive silhouette of the duck.

bagoh20 said...

We have a pair of wild ducks that have made a home in the pond in our backyard recently. They are really bold, and when they get hungry, they walk right up to the door and look in the window until we come out an feed them. Yesterday the door was open and they came right in and took a shit in our kitchen. We have three dogs! They could easily catch and kill these slow ass waddlers, but they know they would catch hell for it, so they just ignore them.

purplepenquin said...

Mr. Penquin, you are mistaken, at least in New York State

You sure? 'cause according to the link provided earlier, non-photo IDs can be used when applying for this welfare program.

The SNAP/Food Stamp caseworker is required to verify your identity. 7 CFR 273.2(f). There are many ways, however, that you may verify your identity. A photo ID is only one way. You should not be denied SNAP/Food Stamps simply because you do not have a photo ID. To prove who you are, you can use such things as a work or school ID, an ID for health benefits, an ID from another social services program such as TANF, wage stubs, a birth certificate, or a voter registration card.

The Legal Aid Society for New York also mentions that non-photo forms of ID (ie birth certificate, Social Security card) are acceptable to verify identity.

*shrug*

chickelit said...

purplepenquin asked...If the purpose of the globalists are open borders, then how does China closing their borders fit into their plans?

If the purpose of Marxism was to unite world workers, why did they build walls in the 1940s and 50's?

Rinse, repeat, launder. Ancient Chinese secret.

Achilles said...

purplepenquin said...
If the purpose of the globalists are open borders, then how does China closing their borders fit into their plans?

It doesn't.

If China is closing their borders it is for one reason.

The Communists in China are about to fall.

The EU is finished after this event. Italy is out for obvious reasons.

Open borders is a dead letter.

The desperation of the globalists will peak soon.

Rusty said...

PP
Let's see. In every state in the US you need a photo ID to purchase a firearm .I'm using your criteria here. So if a citizen needs a photo ID to exercise a right then it isn't an inconvenience to provide an ID to vote.