I'VE HEARD it all now, Duck Lanes! Please tell me who at CaRT decided that this was a good idea, and its not even April 1st., writes Graham Westgate.
Have they never even spent time actually watching ducks on a towpath? They predominately do two things, either sit on the towpath, watching the entertainment provided by the local humans, or cross over the towpath as access to the area opposite the canal.
No distance along towpath
Rarely do ducks walk any distance along the towpath, they have two abilities we humans do not share, they can both swim and fly!
Surely if anyone needs protection from the speeding cyclists it's the humans who have no choice but to walk, few of us can fly (unaided) and even fewer can walk on the water, although a small minority of cyclists seem to think we either can, or we wish to try.
[The picture above shows a cyclists 'shooing' the ducks into 'their' lane, in Berkhamsted, whilst the one below shows a duck having little regard for 'their' duck lane in London!]
Stay on their side?
More to the point, does CaRT really think that the ducks will understand the 'Duck Decals' and stay their side of the line, or is this yet another way in which CaRT can waste its restricted budget?
One final though; probably best not to tell CaRT that ducks swim, they may start cordoning off part of the canal for duck use, or even send them licence demands! Who can tell which!