Feed the Birds

I've never been a really big animal person.  I mean, I always loved the pets I had, as well as my cat now, and I've always been ok with the general existence of animals, but don't usually care that much about other animals.  However, last week I noticed for the first time, a mother duck with eight ducklings.  The cutest thing I've ever seen!  I've been watching them swim for a few days in the pond outside my front door, and started throwing some bread crumbs to them occasionally.  Yesterday, I was feeding them.  Not even tossing bread crumbs into the water, just the ground, when suddenly out emerges a turtle.  I don't know how much experience you have with turtles, but those things freak out when humans get close to them.  Then another turtle, and another... five of them!  It kinda freaked me out, and then I saw a huge snapping turtle swimming uncomfortably close to the edge and decided not to get too friendly with the turtles (I should tell the story about a snapping turtle biting my toe once).

But today I was feeding them again, and the same thing happened so I took a picture of it.  First I felt like the little old bird woman from Mary Poppins.  Then it got freakishly like Dr. Doolittle.  The ducks are all pretty friendly with me now, and though I would never touch them for fear of catching diseases, it is kinda fun.  They're like my little friends.  I came out of my front door tonight to go hang out with a friend, and the mother duck walked with her ducklings all the way around the pond to get closer to me.  Probably not a habit I should form, feeding animals outside my apartment.  One day I'll open my door and they'll all be waiting on the patio.

But it really is neat how much life is out there, and I don't even think about it.  Nature is so cool, even if it is in a man-made retention pond.