Beth, the ducks aren't hungry, they're just natural moochers. Like some humans that ask you for bus money on the street and you give it them and they turn ariound and ask the next passerby for bus money. I want to go back and say, "You should have said you needed round-trip fare".

Yes Rick, they can be moochers. Other people feed them too but they act like their starving. I'd like to see the ducks fly away for the winter. I'm also wary of the people that ask for bus fare. Do they really need it or do they want the money for something else. I'd like to see them disappear too.

last week when i was at my lowest about my situation. i walked areound the lake near my house and walked down to the boat launch. i was just standing there staring out into the morning sky. the sun coming over my shoulder and casting a shadow on the area i was standing. as i stood there doing nothing i noticed that more and more ducks were coming towards me. i mean they were flying in from the other side of the lake. the number grew to the point i finally noticed them. then it dawned on me that they were looking for a hand out. that broke me from my despair for a moment and i watched them continue towards me. i figured they were looking for food and i had none. by now the seagulls were part of the crowd. well i want to do one thing before i left. i grabbed some very small rice like rocks. i took some and threw them towards the birds. man did that cause a commotion. not a commotion to run away but to scurry for food. well if the birds could curse i would be cursed out. not one bird got hurt but i had no food for them. so i left them waiting for the next person to come by.

Ha! The reason that came to my mind about the bus fare moochers...here's a little story. I'll try to make it brief as possible.

I used to have a neighbor family who always came looking for something from me. They would come to my door and ask me for a few bucks for cigarettes until their social security check would come in, or for a "ride down the street" that turned out to be 5 miles away when the odometer stopped when I got there..

One day she came over to borrow cigarettes. I had none. But I was going to the store to get my tickets and when I came back I knocked on her door with 5 cigarettes in my hand. She answered the door with a cigarette in her hand.

Yesterday her older son was camped out in front of the liquor store with a friend of his. He told me he needed bus fare to go into the city because his mom had been arrested for not having license plates and was in jail. He said he needed three bucks for bus fare...I only had two to give him. He looked seriously disappointed and I said, "If you don't want it I'll take it back because I need it too." He kept it and gave me the one-armed hug / handshake routine.

They weren't standing at the bus stop and were gone from the liquor store when I drove by 10 minutes later....bus hadn't come yet.

He didn't need cracked corn, I think he needed a shortened version of that...crack. I'll take a mooching duck any day over a lying, mooching human any day.

I Think Almost Everybody Had A Warm Summer This Year So Looking Forward To Cooler Weather And Winter. We Had Alot Of Days Above 100 This Year, It Was Really Hot Here. Keep Playing Those Lotteries, I Think Your Going To Hit Something Good Soon.

Hello everyone. Yes ducks can be better than some human beings. But when winter comes they hang around instead of going south where they should go.
Also thank you geos, Rick, and starchild for your encouragement and support and I hope that you have alot of success and prosperity in life and win your jackpots.!

Years ago I was wandering around a city park in Detroit, MI. Pretty much broke - had some coins in my pocket. I saw a small kid, maybe 8 or 9 yrs old. There was a coin operated pop corn machine there, for some reason. Basically, middle of nowhere. He was picking up popcorn from the ground and eating it.

I scolded him and told him about germs, etc; Then I put a dime into the slot and gave him a bag of popcorn.   It was a time in my life where I could have used every dime I had. Was he really that hungry? Or was he really that poor? I'll never know. He didn't mooch in either case.

That is a interesting story. Truecritic ,Thank you.


Also do you enjoy playing the lotteries?

Why, of course Elizabeth, I enjoy Lotteries.

Feeding ducks and geese is a tough call. On the one hand it's wrong because it affects their health and causes them to stick around when nature says it's time to go. On the other, once we've interfered with their eating and migration habits, perhaps we have some sort of obligation to take care of them. Most people throw white bread which is not good for their digestive system. You're right Elizabeth. Ducks should fly away. But like relatives, if you keep feeding them for free, they won't ever leave! :-)

Nancy, that's funny. You're right ducks are like relatives , if you keep feeding them ,they do not want to leave. Some of the smart ones though leave when winter sets in. Some do not leave. Why they want to stay in freezing weather, I don't know?.