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Jolie Rouge
04-10-2005, 06:15 PM
D.C. division protects mother mallard, nine eggs
A brown mallard nests on a mulch pile near the main entrance to the Department of the Treasury on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The Associated Press
April 8, 2005

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Secret Service, which has the job of guarding the president and other dignitaries, now has a new temporary duty — protecting a mother duck and her nine eggs.

The duck, a brown mallard with white markings, has had several names suggested by Treasury Department people, including “Quacks Reform,” “T-Bill,” and “Duck Cheney.” It has built a nest in a mulch pile right at the main entrance to the Treasury Department on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Secret Service’s uniformed division, which provides protection for the White House and Treasury building, has set up metal guard rails to protect the nest, which has attracted the notice of tourists on their way to see the White House.

The duck has been provided with a water bowl and seems oblivious to all the attention, sitting calmly on its nest on top of the mulch pile that surrounds one of the new trees planted along Pennsylvania Avenue as part of a renovation project.

Paying respects

Treasury Secretary John Snow stopped to pay his respects this week on the way back from a congressional hearing, Treasury spokesman Rob Nichols said Friday. “He had been briefed on the duck and he stopped to pay a visit,” said Nichols.

The eggs are expected to hatch the last week of April at which time the duck will be relocated nearer water. But until then, the duck will occupy some of Washington’s prime real estate. “Foreign leaders, members of Congress, everybody who visits Treasury has to pass by the duck,” Nichols said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7431409

schsa
04-11-2005, 09:37 AM
I read this and thought it was a great story. The ducks deserve the best protection possible. I can't wait until they hatch.

Jolie Rouge
04-15-2005, 06:43 PM
Officials Heighten Duck Security at Summit
Friday April 15, 2005; 8:36 AM ET



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials bolstered security on Thursday for a duck nursing eggs near the White House to protect her from demonstrators at a global economic summit beginning on Friday.



Officials are concerned protesters could disturb the mallard hen, who is incubating what officials say are nine eggs at the foot of a tree on the sidewalk in front of the Treasury Department and next door to the presidential residence.


"We are widening the perimeter around the duck as a precautionary measure," Treasury spokesman Rob Nichols said.


The waterfowl, who may now be one of the best-protected birds on the planet, laid her eggs on top if a mound of mulch at the foot of a freshly planted sapling over the weekend of April 2-3. Her ducklings are expected to hatch the week of April 25-29.


Meanwhile, groups protesting the meetings of members of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Group of Seven major industrial nations have scheduled a Friday rally at an intersection, yards from the bird.


Some demonstrations at economic summits in recent years have turned into violent confrontations between police and protesters. Tens of thousands of anti-globalization demonstrators shut down a 1999 international trade ministers meeting in Seattle, and protests disrupted World Bank-IMF meetings in Washington in 2000.


But demonstrations at gatherings of world economic policy makers have dwindled in size and rowdiness since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and security has tightened. Organizers said protesters were likely to number in the hundreds this weekend.


Even so, workers on Thursday afternoon erected a second line of metal crowd-control barriers about 10 feet outside stanchions already in place to keep gawkers at arm's length from the duck.


The bird spends her days nibbling mulch around her, dozing in the spring sunshine, or feathering her nest. Every evening at dusk, she covers her eggs and leaves for about 15 minutes to feed, a Treasury official said.


Decision-making about the duck's safety was closely guarded. "We don't comment on security matters," Nichols said.


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