Swine Flu Mutates To Ducks
DUCKS are big news right now. Swine flu has yet to mutate into duck flu. The big duck news is to do with – get this – bills. It’s Swine Fever.
There’s Sir Peter Viggers, the Tory MP, who claimed a £1,645 “duck island” on expenses.
Pay your bill!
Then coems news of an Oxford university stiody intio whther ducks: a ) like water; c) like water a lot; c) really like water very much indeed.
The Guardian reports:
The assumption has always been that rainy weather is good for ducks. Now a three-year study funded to the tune of £300,000 by the taxpayer has proved it.
Two scientists from the University of Oxford gave a lucky group of farm ducks access to a pond, a water trough and a shower. They discovered that the ducks spent an awful lot of time under the shower, sometimes just standing there, others drinking from it.
Sir Peter’s ducks observations are not yet known, but he believes them to be shy creatures who enjoy living on their own island, like the Thunderbirds.
By way of an explanation into the duck study:
Marian Stamp Dawkins, professor of animal behaviour at Oxford, said many would have expected the ducks to spend most of their time swimming in the pond. In fact, they seemed to prefer the shower to the pond, suggesting they were not very bothered about swimming.
Had only she offered them a football or ping-pong bat and ball by way of exercise instead…
Posted: 21st, May 2009 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
