Posted on 03/10/2009 11:58:30 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Attempts to breed a rare species of duck to avoid extinction in the UK have backfired after the only two remaining males fell for each other.
Keepers at a bird sanctuary in West Sussex hoped that the last remaining female Blue Duck in the country - called Cherry - might mate with either of the drakes, Ben or Jerry.
But neither male duck appeared interested and are now inseparable at the Arundel Wetland Centre, leaving Cherry to her own devices.
Related Articles Endangered bittern returns to Somerset Thai zoo hopes cold spell will put pandas in heat Gay penguins steal eggs from straight couples 111-year-old lizard to become a father Quiet Gareth Barry's waiting gameCentre warden Paul Stevens said he was disappointed that efforts to produce new Blue Duck offspring had failed but said the two male birds made "a lovely couple".
"They stay together all the time, parading up and down their enclosure and whistling to each other as a male might do with a female he wants to mate with," he said.
"People who visit the centre think they're a fantastic couple, without really coming around to the idea that they are two males.
"They both have very big personalities and people come from all over the country to come and see them.
Cherry doesn't seem bothered by it, she's just happy to keep herself to herself."
Blue ducks originate from New Zealand but there were thought to be just three birds in the UK.
Keepers initially introduced Ben to Cherry, but neither seemed keen. They then brought Jerry down from a sanctuary in London.
Mr Stevens said: "Cherry showed some interest in him. She displayed typical mating behaviour - she approached him and called to him, she even looked like she was nesting.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Ping
Talk about an “odd duck”
A$$FLAC!
Snort!
That’s what ya get for naming yer ducks Ben and Jerry.
Anyone know how many of these ducks there are in their native New Zealand? The author seems to want us to believe that the species will go extinct if the one female in the UK doesn’t breed, but I doubt that this is the case. Sounds to me more like a ploy to get us to accept that homosexuality is normal and should be accepted as a part of nature. That is usually at the heart of stories like this.
Hilarious!
I thought it was a cautionary tale of what would happen to humans in Britain?
Did anyone consider that Cherry might be ugly? I don’t mean a little, I mean “throw mama from the train, Helen Thomas ugly”.
At that point, the other duck would rather be with his bud out fishing instead of shacking up with some hag.
I have heard people say that God does not have a sense of humor. All these stories like this of us trying and failing to manipulate nature just convinces me that they are wrong.
Other examples are the otter eaten by an Orca at Prince William Sound (Valdez) and some rare bird eaten by a Pike(?) in the UK a few years ago as the bunny huggers watched.
"Mrs Miggins, if [you, me, and my manservant] were the last three people alive, I would be trying to start a family with Baldrick."
--Edmund Blackadder, Series III
That was really an insult.
It is interesting that two “gay” (QUEER) ducks are called Ben and Jerry. The Ben and Jerry ice cream sellers are so far left wing that I have always thought of them as queer.
I have a deep appreciation for fine art.
It’s as normal as AIDs, as the road less travelled in the woods, as suicide, as teenage pregancy, as murder in the city, and all the other normal things.
It is not good to go for something because you think it is normal. Best to do a little analysis before you jump off the cliff with all the other “normals”.
Houston, we've found the problem.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.