Curio [I]

While staying at a Los Angeles suburb, the following was noticed:

At a back yard one day there was the sound of many chicks. A moment later a trail of yellow chicks were following their 

mother hen transversing the yard. Another sound was immediately noted, loud quacking. Right behind  the chicks was following a yellow duckling, following only them and quacking loudly. The duckling followed them every where every turn.

They came to a wood fence. The chicks hopped onto the lower rung and jumped off and went on their way. The duckling came

to the fence and was dumbfounded. It wanted to follow the chicks! It looked at the fence but could not pass, looked at the chicks moving away. It quacked very loudly and persistently. A few chicks stopped their travel and turned to look at their partner who

continued loud quacking. 

The duckling of course has stiff, flat feet and cannot grasp like the chicks could. I could see the wear and tear of its feet which are out of natural environment. The skin was showing cracks. It must be painful. Nevertheless the duckling insisted in joining 

the troupe. It danced around on the other side of the fence. Eventually, it managed to balance its feet on the rung  and jump down and join the chicks. This repeated for a couple days more. The duckling always following the chicks, pecking the ground when the chicks did. Total identity.

One night it rained and a shallow pond formed in the yard. In the morning the troupe came traveling through the backyard at the same place with the duckling trailing, looking a little worse for wear and tear. Suddenly out of the sky two adult ducks showed up and flew to the pond and settled in it. They quietly swam around. The duckling was passing the pond but it stopped to look at the adult ducks swimming. It stared at them motionless. Twisted its head at them. The ducks continued to swim.

After quite a few minutes of looking at the ducks, it quacked, turned its head to the chicks nearby and went to join them, ignoring the swimming ducks and did not even approach the pond.

The troupe with the duckling were seen a couple more days after and then were not seen at that site again.