It was Wednesday, my first day out of that middle school art class, and I had caught a BEST class (which is an acronym, but I don't know what it stands for). Basically, it's a small, self-contained class for students who have issues. Special ed, but for emotional rather than developmental problems.
The instructional assistant's remark got me to turn around and see the "ducks". Only these were not ducks. No, these were cobra chickens...
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| This is a t-shirt. (And I found another, too.) |
...otherwise known as Canadian geese.
A couple weeks back, while driving to campus, I had noticed a flock of these beasts on the practice soccer field. I have no idea when they showed up and decided to make the school their home, but apparently it now is. Sigh.
The geese were eating grass. There were at least a dozen of them, all full grown. We kind of watched them in between the work the kiddos were to do. (They were doing a review of The Crucible which they were to have a test on, and then they were learning about herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.)
I did explain to the IA that they were geese not ducks, but she insisted on continuing to call them ducks. Oh well. I'm now calling them cobra chickens anyway, so...
It used to be that we'd have seagulls all over the place. At the end of lunch, you'd always have to be careful to not get pooped on as the seagulls took off. (Kiddos leave trash with food. The seagulls knew where to get fed.) But, as of late, we don't have as many seagulls (although I'm not out in the lunch area at lunchtime, so I might just not see them). After the Covid shutdowns, the seagulls kind of drifted off.
But now, Canadian geese. Yikes.
At one point, one of the maintenance guys came driving through on his cart, and then security came by on her golf cart, and they ended up chasing the cobra chickens. I enjoyed that display way too much.
My husband used to work in a building with a man-made lake. When the geese would be in nesting mode they would run after people and attack! They can be so aggressive.
ReplyDeleteWe have a couple pairs that live in my condo complex when they're having their young. They are absolute horrors. Fighting each other. Terrorizing the complex's dogs. I've had more than one hiss at me. Vicious creatures.
DeleteCobra chickens! I love the name. Not a fan of these creatures. Besides their aggressive nature in nesting season they leave lots of calling cards on all our walking trails. It seems, though, that I haven’t seen as many this year. I wonder if the bird flu had something to do with it.
ReplyDeleteYup, it's a great name. I appropriate great names when I come across them.
DeleteThat is a hilarious name for them.
ReplyDeleteIt is.
DeleteOh oh! Funny name!
ReplyDelete