Ducks: A Point of Unity in a Capital of Ruffled Feathers
'Paul Poirot had never identified as a duck person. Already engaged in a tumultuous relationship with an invasive neighborhood raccoon that eats the goldfish in his backyard pond, he had not given much thought to the local waterfowl when a mallard hen began nesting on the roof deck of his Capitol Hill home.
“Ducklings? Cute,” said Mr. Poirot, an intellectual property lawyer. “Ducks? Dinner.”
But when Mr. Poirot discovered the hen nestled in a rosemary planter with seven eggs, he became oddly protective of it. He opened a patio umbrella for protection from predators, and fashioned a webcam out of an iPad in a Ziploc bag to maintain a live stream through which his neighbors and Facebook friends watch the hen sit, adjust herself and blink.
“Look, we’ve got enough stuff in D.C. that people can’t talk about,” Mr. Poirot said. “This is a duck on a roof. Just enjoy it.”
In an otherwise divided capital, there’s one thing most people can agree on: The city’s ducks must be protected at all costs.'>>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/11/us/politics/ducks-washington-reflecting-pool-unity.html?
