DUCK MOB

*WARNING - Images might be disturbing to small children.

I don't know what this Mallard duck did to piss off the Alpha male at The San Diego Zoo but he gets taught a lesson by the boss and his pals.

It was fascinating yet disturbing to watch at the same time.

The whole thing reminded me of Jane Goodall's findings about Chimpanzees. That although they are usually seen as gentle creatures, she discovered that they were also capable of being incredibly vicious and brutal -- sometimes hunting or even eating smaller monkeys. Females killing the offspring of other females in their troop to maintain their dominance, sometimes going as far as cannibalism.

Now before I get any flack -- I know enough about animals to know that you just don't interfere with nature.

Had I thrown rocks at the ducks to break up the fight, it might have come attack me, nearby patrons or children. Unfortunately, it's just one of those situations letting nature run its course - sometimes the Snow Leopard runs down the rabbit.

And who's to say the other duck didn't have it coming?

In further research, I discovered that the mallard will sometimes isolate a female duck of a different species, peck at her until she weakens and then the males will take turns copulating with the female.

Dubbed 'Attempted Rape Flight', male mallards will also occasionally chase other male ducks in the same way. In a documented case, a male mallard copulated with another male he was chasing after said male had been killed upon flying into a glass window.

Sounds a lot like prison to me.

Ya learn something new everyday.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Duck drowning another duck
• duck fight
• mallard
• san diego zoo