by MaryBeth
I have a thing for ducks. Unfortunately our 9 huskies had a thing for ducks too. They liked theirs plump and slow. So as long as we had the huskies, we had a moratorium on ducks. As the sled dogs grew older, we grew closer to ducks. As the last one met his demise last Christmas, the ban on ducks was lifted. So was the ban on cats.
In February we got a cat. She was a runt, running wild in the woods and looking for a home. What better home for a wild cat than ours?
In March, we got a dog. Thing was, he was 7 years old and deaf, so no one wanted to adopt him. What better home for a deaf dog than ours, the one with the wild cat?
And this month, we got ducks.
Deaf dog, wild cat, ducks – it could work…stay with me here.
All these acquisitions had to happen when the man of the house was out of the house. He would leave his loving family on Sunday night, and when he returned from the city on Friday, some new four-legged creature would greet him (or attack him) at the door. Last Friday, he came home to ducks.
“Honey there’s a box on the porch with a light shining into it.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Sweetheart, did we get a bird? Because I can’t handle a bird.”
“Well, it is kind of a bird.”
“Oh no, not a bird. I’ll have to clean up after a bird. The cat will eat the bird. I’ll have to dispose of what’s left of the bird…Not a bird.”
“Well this is an outside, keep in a pen when it’s not swimming in the pond bird.”
“We got a duck? Oh no not a duck.”
At this point Sweetie pipes up,
“Why don’t you go look at the duck, Dad.” As I made every ‘NO’ motion to her I could think of, too late, out he goes to see “The Duck.” He lifts up the cover on the box and just about keels over.
“There are ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, there are SIX DUCKS IN HERE!!! Why do we have SIX DUCKS????”
“New York State Law six duck minimum. Article 26 Section 354. ‘No one shall sell ducklings in quanties less than six.’ Parents were buying their kids one or two ducks for Easter. Ducks weren’t being properly cared for, so to prevent that kind of…”
“Duck Abuse? That law was made for PEOPLE LIKE US! Honey, we do not need SIX DUCKS!!!”
“Oh but we do need six ducks. Fresh duck eggs in the morning… Cheaper than organic… And besides, ducks are so cute. Look at their little wings.”
“THAT’S WHAT THE CAT IS SAYING!”
So here are the ducks. Aren’t they cute? Look at their little wings!
You think I’m kidding? Check out New York City Tax dollars at work:
