According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the 2010 preliminary estimate of the total duck population from the traditional survey area of the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey is 40.9 million birds. Half the bastards live on my street and breed worse than rats. They foul walkways, carports and specially anywhere on your property you used to deem safe to walk barefoot. For some reason they like my mother’s hot-less habanero pepper and parsley, lay eggs under my porch… and prey all eggs hatch or you will know how nasty a duck’s egg will smell after it goes bad.  And there is not a damn thing you can do about it because you will run “afowl” (rimshot) of the South Florida authorities.

So, that is why I feel all warm/fuzzy when i see an osprey or other birds of prey doing their own version of Census in the neighborhood. Or we can lobby for an urban hunting license for dealing with the feathery pests! Fat Chance in the era of Gaia Unchallenged and the Aflac commercials.