Author Archives: JK

A Rough Start

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Tuesday May 14, 2013,

20130510075328-5x7wHere’s a shot of a young Eastern Cottontail I saw at Avalon Preserve last week. He’s only half-grown but he’s not so new to the world. Most rabbits are only fist-sized when they’re turned out to fend for themselves. While this guy isn’t even an adult yet, he does show signs of what it means to be a rabbit in the wild. Click on the pic and have a look at those ears. Something, possibly a fox or a hawk, has been at this little one. Maybe even a raccoon or a possum. If you look closely enough, you’ll see that at least one tick is still chowing down on our unfortunate hero. There are many, many critters that have rabbit on the menu. This could go a long way to explaining why rabbits procreate like, well,  rabbits. They absolutely need to. They’re feeding an entire ecosystem.  JK

A Mallard, Sort Of

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Wednesday, May 8, 2013,

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Here’s a pic of two ducks I saw at Avalon Park and Preserve, just off the Duck Pond. The duck in the background is the ubiquitous Mallard, looking just as he should. However, this guy in the foreground is looking a bit iffy. I suspect some Pekin Duck in his heritage. Pekin Ducks are those all-white ducks that are raised at duck farms right here on Long Island. In fact they are very closely related to true Mallards. Long Island’s Pekin Ducks come from a handful of birds whose ancestors were domesticated Mallards from China. Sheesh, those Mallards sure get around. They’re are just about everywhere north of the equator. That, boys and girls, points to a successful design. Darwin would be proud. JK