"Bad Families"

(Photos: 1--  Buster who will soon have his work cut out for him. 2-- 2-- Mama Joan (the drone) 3-- Mama Joan and two of her "kids"  4 -- They look innocent, but don't let their looks fool you.  These are very tough ducklings.  )  

 

 

"Hey, Buster, isn't it almost time you and Bonnie started to teach your six spoiled brats to fly?"

 

The above question was posed a few nights ago to "Buster" the bully gander of Central Park and now proud daddy to six grown goslings.

 

But, Buster wasn't answering. 

 

He was too busy harassing Papa goose's family at the Rambles rock on the Boat Lake.

 

At one point, Buster pulled out a wad of down from one of the chased geese and held it in his mouth like the proud winner of an Olympic gold medal.

 

"Look what I got!  That 'ill teach 'em!"  

 

Meanwhile, two of Buster's "spoiled brats" tugged on my thigh, demanding treat.

 

No doubt about it.  The six goslings are all chips off the old block.  Of all the ganders in Central Park, why did Bonnie hook up with the meanest?  It seems in the goose world (like the human world) sometimes the girls are attracted to the "bad boys." The tougher the guys, the more the gals like 'em.

 

Another lady and I refer to Buster and his clan as, "The bad family." 

 

It will be a happy day for Mama and Papa goose who (along with their grown kids) have been endlessly harassed by the "bad family" when Buster and his clan finally leave.

 

Presumably, Buster and charges will then become problems for the migratory geese who make it into Central Park (usually Harlem Meer) over the winter. But, some of the migratorys can be tough.  Buster still has missing tufts of feathers on his chest from a migratory gander who deftly challenged him last winter at the Meer.    Not all the migratory geese are shrinking violets. Some actually stand up to "bully" resident geese like Buster.

 

Buster didn't earn his name for nothing. 

 

But, if we think Buster is tough, he doesn't hold a candle to a particularly "mean" Mama mallard at Harlem Meer.

 

"Joan the drone" as I have dubbed her is like a one-woman hit squad to all the other ducks at Harlem Meer -- including, Brad, Wiggly and Honker, the much larger and more formidable domestic ducks.

 

So tough is Mama Joan that she has trained her five mostly grown ducklings to be equally as temperamental and bullying. 

 

The "bad (duck) family" can clear an entire patch of the lake embankment within a couple of minutes, sending every duck madly dashing for the safety of the water.

 

Last night, while Mama Joan sent several mallards flying, one of her ducklings rudely pranced up to Brad and nipped him hard on the butt.  Brad, totally taken by surprised, backed off with Wiggly and Honker. 

 

"What the hell?" 

 

I don't know what it is that prompts some birds (and some humans) to become absolutely intolerable when they have young.

 

True, Buster has always been a bully among geese, but he became even worse when having kids.  I don't know what Mama Joan (the drone) was like before becoming a mother, but one gets the impression that feistiness has always been part of her makeup.  Its just much more apparent now.

 

They are like some humans who when walking through a store with a baby in a huge stroller threaten to mow everyone else down who doesn't jump out of the way quickly enough.

 

I sometimes fear that my ultimate cause of death will be, "Run down by a baby stroller" just like I fear some of my favorite ducks will ultimately be "mowed down by an angry mama mallard."

 

After she had cleared the entire embankment last night of every living duck, Joan and her brats proudly posed for pictures for me.

 

I am just wondering what is going to happen when Buster, Bonnie and their six brats return to Harlem Meer?

 

Will it then become "clash of the bad families?" 

 

But, you know, even though geese are bigger and stronger than mallards, I am still going to put my money on Mama Joan the Drone and her five "get 'em by surprise" ducklings who by that time will be full size.

 

When it comes to pure moxie and the ability to move like mini torpedoes, mallards have geese beat by a mile.

 

Buster will indeed have his work cut out for him.

 

Nothing quite so mean as a mean mama mallard with five fully charged little torpedoes.

 

Those sweet and innocent looks can be deceiving. 

 

Behind the doe-like eyes and fluffy brown feathers lie hearts of fire.  -- PCA

 

 

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