Spring in Walla Walla and the Whitman College Ducks…
Well the calendar says that it is Spring in the Valley of the Two Wallas! The weather doesn’t seem to be cooperating with the romantic idea of mild Spring temperatures. One day last week we had slushy snow in the morning and then sun in the afternoon.
Through all of the unpredictability of Spring, the Mallard ducks seem to be the constant. For years, Jill and I have taken a morning walk through the Whitman College campus. A small creek flows through campus and feeds a small pond. That pond has historically been a home for Mallard ducks. We have noticed that the ducks begin “pairing” off in early January.
Two males to one female...
“Pairing” off is not entirely accurate… one Hen seems to have a minimum of two and as many as four Drakes following her. This male/female ratio didn’t seem to be normal to us… so I did what anyone else would do in the year 2012. I did some Google research.
The unfortunate thing is that the only scientific research that I could find involved wild ducks. Research results indicated that in the wild, the ratio of male to female Mallards is about 55 to 45 percent. That ratio is no where close to what we have observed. Maybe there is a research opportunity to study urban ducks… in Walla Walla.
In any case, the ducklings should be appearing soon…
There always seems to be at least one male this close to every female...
