Baby Ducks

0:00Oh, what's this Miss Meow Meow? We have incoming messages. Let's see who it could be. Hi, my name is Eddie and I'm from the Huff and we listen to not hearing about dogs. My name is Eddie and I'm from the Huff and we listen to not hearing about dogs. Yes! You're right, ducks are a wow's horrific request. Thanks so much to Ellie and Sadie from Bellevue, Washington for suggesting this episode's cosy critter. Now on with the show.

1:00Hey howdy and hippopotamus high fives my sleepy friend. It's your old pal, Duggy Pickles. And I'm here with my sidekick. The sleepy is cat in all the land. Miss Meow Meow. Tonight we're heading somewhere soft and green. Where the water hums like a lullaby and the air smells like leaves warming in the sun. We're about to meet a critter who loves splashing, floating and following along. Baby ducks. I'd love to hear a joke Miss Meow Meow. Hmm, what's a baby duck's favorite snack?

2:06Clackers. That's a good one Miss Meow Meow. Let's get our magical traveling balloon ready. I need your help blowing it up. So, taking a deep breath through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Great job. Just one more time my sleepy friend. Taking a deep breath through your nose and then exhale through your mouth. You did it. Now our magic balloon is all blown up. Tonight our balloon is painted pond blue and grassy green like the sky taking a nap in the water.

3:08My sleepy friend, are you ready to meet a baby duck? Let's get in the magical hot air balloon basket and here we go. First, we rise high above your bedroom, then higher and even higher until your house looks like a tiny cozy nest tucked gently into the world. Below us, the land stretches out into meadows and winding streams. A dragonfly zips alongside us, wings sparkle like tiny pieces of the sky before he loops away back over the water.

4:19Oh look, we're here. Can you guess where we are? Let's use our noses and see what we can smell. Taking a deep breath through your nose and exhale through your mouth. It smells like pond water and soft mud and sunshine on leaves. The kind of smell that means everything is growing and nothing is in a hurry. We're floating over a quiet pond where the water moves slowly and the grass leans close as if it's listening to a bedtime story.

5:24Oh wow, look what Miss Meow Meow just spotted. Over there near the edge of the pond, bobbing like tiny boats made of fluff is a line of little yellow shapes. Those are baby ducks, also known as ducklings. Right away, you can see just how small they are. A duckling is about the size of an uber-duber tasty blueberry muffin, round and light and wonderfully wobbly. Their mom is much bigger about as long as your backpack, strong and steady, with eyes that are always watching after her babies.

6:38Ducklings are covered in fuzzy down feathers that look like they've been gently dusted with sunshine. Down feathers trap warm air close to their bodies, keeping them cozy even when the water feels cool. A duckling's feathers are secretly very clever as they grow. Duck spread a special oil over their feathers that comes from a tiny gland near their tails. This oil turns their feathers into raincoats, so water rolls right off instead of soaking in.

7:39That's why ducks can swim and still stay warm and dry underneath. Their feet are wide and flat like tiny orange paddles. When they swim, those little feet push the water behind them, swish, swish, sending them gliding forward in gentle zigzags. Did you know ducklings are born already knowing how to swim. They don't go to swimming lessons and they don't need floaties. That's because inside every duckling is a tiny set of instructions called chains.

8:46Chains are like invisible notes pass down from parents to their babies that say things like, here's how to paddle, and here's how to float, and water is your friend. Ducks have been swimming for so, so many generations that those instructions are written right into their bodies. They don't have to learn how to do it. They just know. So the very first time a duckling touches water, its feet start paddling without even thinking about it. Like its body remembers something it's never done before.

9:51My sleepy friend, you have this wowserific trick too. You're born being able to yawn when you're tired. Blink, breathe, curl up when it's time to rest, and so much more. All without you having to learn it first. Miss Meow Meow says that's pretty magical and I agree. Even though ducklings know how to swim, they still stay very close to their mom. She leads the way through the pond, and they follow in a neat little line,

10:52learning where it's safe, where food hides, and when it's time to nap. When ducklings are very, very young, something special happens. The first moving, caring thing they see, usually their mom becomes who they trust and follow. This is called imprinting. It's how ducklings learn who protects them. Once they choose, they stick close, step by step, wherever that trusted leader goes. Staying close is one of the first ways animals learn the world is safe.

11:54Sometimes one duckling drifts a little sideways. Sometimes another bumps into the sibling, and sometimes the whole line turns into a wiggly, splishy scribble. But it always comes back together. Ducklings learn by watching. They watch how their mom dips her head underwater to nibble plants in tiny bugs. They watch how she shakes water off her feathers. They watch when she moves, and when she stays still. Ducklings don't stay in the water all the time.

12:57When they get tired, they climb out onto the shore. Their little feet squishing softly, softly, ever so softly into the mud. They shake, and fluff, puffing themselves back into fuzzy duckling clouds. Then tuck in close to stay warm. You know what Miss Meow Meow? Watching these ducklings reminds me of something. Even when you're born knowing how to do something, learning still takes time. It's okay to practice, it's okay to rest, and it's okay to watch before trying again.

14:04As the sun sinks lower, the pond grows quieter. The water smooths into soft glass. The ducklings gather close, tiny heads tucked against warm feathers. The ducklings don't need to swim anymore tonight. They've paddled enough. They've learned enough. Their day is all done. I'm pretty tired too. In Miss Meow Meow is all curled up in the basket. Her tail wraps neatly around her paws. Her eyes blinking slowly, and even more slowly.

15:05How about you, my sleepy friend? Are you ready to head home and dream of our new fluffy friends, baby ducks? Well then, let's head home. Here we go. First, we rise gently above the pond. The water quietly hums with the songs of crickets as we float higher and higher and even higher. The dragonfly flickers past again, drawing one last shimmer in the air before disappearing into the reeds.

16:05While we head home, I thought of a lullaby I want to share with you. It goes like this. Little ducks in evening light, floating calm and tucked in tight, ripples fade. The pond goes still. Moonlight climbs the grassy hill, sleep now ducklings soft and small, dream of puddles, bugs and all. Drift my friend through gentle night, wrapped in feathers, warm and light. Oh look, you're back home.

17:06Miss Meow Meow and I had such a wonderful time with you. We hope to see you soon when we visit our next animal friend at the Shed Aquarium in Chicago, electric eels. Until next time, my sleepy friend, to Lou and cozy critter dreams too. Miss Meow Meow and I want to give an extra special thank you to our Patreon supporters, including those in the Walserific tier. Noel from Nebraska. Zenia from Washington, DC. Abram and Leah from Virginia. Joey from Washington Township, New Jersey.

18:09Gloria, Claudia, and Veronica from Long Valley, New Jersey. Kaya in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Kennedy from Edmunds, Washington. Caroline and Nora from North Carolina. Otis and Lily from Montana. Charlotte from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Caroline from Madison, Wisconsin. And Esme and Rory from Massachusetts. Cozy Critters is produced by me, Doug Frazier, and distributed by PRX. Make sure to subscribe to Cozy Critters on Apple Podcasts. Spotify the Eye Heart Radio app, or wherever you get your podcasts. From PRX. From PRX, from PRX.

19:11From PRX. From PRX. From PRX. From PRX. From PRX. From PRX. From PRX. From PRX.