ducks

The Massachusetts Appeals Court today reinstated a man's conviction of cruelty to animals for squashing a mother duck leading her ducklings across a mall parking lot in Dartmouth in June, 2009.

Romeo and Juliet? This year's swans are more like dual Lady Macbeths. Mike the Mad Biologist chronicles the avian war on the lagoon:

... One day I saw one swan prevent the flock of ducklings from entering the pond: wherever the ducks went to try to jump in, the swan was right there hissing at them. That day, the swan even jumped out of the water and pursued them on land.

It gets even more vicious. The swan (again, no idea which one) will try to isolate a couple ducklings and then pursue those ducklings. The duck's mother then tries the 'broken wing' gambit (squawking loudly and then veering off, in an attempt to draw the swan away). It never works. These swans are on a mission.

Instead of a beautiful lagoon to float around in when they arrived in the Public Garden today, all they found was a giant field of mud, with a little rivulet running through it.

The Boston Parks Department says it had hoped to have the lagoon cleaned and ready for filling by now, but the nor'easter mucked things up.

Wicked Local Cambridge reports the Cambridge Zoning Board of Appeals ruled tonight that a Putnam Street co-op house has to send its three ducks and two chickens to someplace more rural, such as Arlington.

Residents vowed to appeal the decision that fowl are not allowed under city bylaws to the city council, which, however, is a bit preoccupied these days with attempting to select a mayor - something it has so far failed to do after six weeks.