Tuan Ho has requested that I elaborate on something I wrote in yesterday’s award post.  Specifically, me getting attacked by a duck.  Now, I’ve always been a very animal-focused person and loved going to the zoo.  That’s not where this happened, but it’s the set up.  I never really had any fear of animals, especially domestic.  Oh, I knew not to mess with a stray dog or climb into the animal enclosures at the zoo.  But if an animal approached me, I didn’t really shy away.

The duck was at the Long Island Game Farm and I was probably around 6 or 7.  We would go there when we wanted to give the Bronx Zoo a break.  It was a little more harrowing because the first thing you run into are deer that jump up on you like bad dogs.  They expect you to have snacks that you’re given at the front door.  Now, we were at one area where there were chicks that we got to pet.  I was kneeling down petting them and not realizing that this large, white duck had taken issues with me.  Truthfully, nobody noticed this because there were ducks walking all over the place.  I turn and get snapped in the nose by the damn thing.  Of course, I cry and fall back while the duck comes at me again to nip at my feet.  Then it ran off when people started coming over.  I kept a safe distance from ducks from then on.

I should throw the evil, psychotic goat in here too.  An occasional vacation spot for my family was the Rocking Horse Dude Ranch.  You can ride horses, shoot archery, ski, and hang out by the pool.  Well, they had a large pen for goats and sheep (and the required one donkey) that you could feed.  My parents wanted a picture of me and my sister near the pen.  Saw people doing this before, so what could go wrong.  I do remember being confused about the two gaps in the wire mesh that I was standing between.  Still, no worries and the pictures were shot and my sister moved.  Then, I feel a jolt from behind and see that I’m suddenly between a pair of ram horns.  That explained the holes in the wire mesh . . . and the new puddle on the ground.  I had to get carried away because I wasn’t moving an inch from my spot.

I seem to always get in trouble with farm animals.  Horses really don’t like me if I try to ride them.  Though, the few cows I’ve met seem to think I’m tasty.  My son is luckier though.  He’s already had a run in with a baby goat that decided to get on a rock near him to eat his hair, which he thought was hilarious.