According to scientists at Indiana State University they sleep with one eye open, and brain wave patterns confirm that this one-eye-open-one-eye-shut phenomenon means that one hemisphere of the brain is asleep while the other is awake. Ducks' feet can't feel the cold because they don't have any nerves or blood vessels in them, so icy water is no problem! They also sleep with half their brain awake. They do have some pretty fascinating qualities though. Many can't fly and their colors don't necessarily match their environment added to which they simply don't know how to act and would be unable to defend themselves if attacked by other ducks who already live in the territory. Domesticated ducks can't survive in the wild.

The downside to owning a duck, according to the Huff Post 'is cleaning up after a diaperless duck.' (Yes you can actually buy diapers specifically made for ducks!) So while a few might make it as pets, especially to families with ample outdoor space, and some other lucky ones will end up at farm sanctuaries or duck rescue centers, too many will meet nastier ends, one of which is when well meaning owners release their ducks into the wild. An articlein The Huffington Post suggested that millions of parents have given - or will give - their kids ducks for Easter. But here's another not-so-cool thing about ducks: they poop.

They're soft, and their chicks are even softer. Yes, Ruth Zardo, the mad, brilliant poet in Louise Penny's How the Light Gets In has a pet duck named Rosa. And Rosa looked at Ruth, as Jean-Guy's hand caressed the feathers of Rosa's back, coming closer and closer to the long neck.įinally Jean-Guy's hand stopped, and rested. She watched Rosa, holding her dark duck eyes. 'I could wring her neck, you know,' he said. He seemed not to notice, but after a few moments he brought his hand up and stroked Rosa. She carefully placed Rosa on Jean-Guy's lap. lifted Rosa from her lap, feeling it warm where the duck had been. Here is a scene from the novel that features that poet, Ruth, and her pet duck, Rosa: I can think of few other writers who could sidestep cuteness in a scene that features an elderly female poet and her pet duck.' In her review of How The Light Gets In for The Washington Post, Maureen Corrigan writes: 'Penny's voice - occasionally amused, yet curiously formal - is what makes the world of her novels plausible.

This article relates to How the Light Gets In

Make room for ducklings book