Holy Imprinting!

JUNE 11, 2011 by MEG

According to Sara Hallager, a bird biologist at the National Zoo; “All baby birds, when they’re born, the first thing they see, which is usually the same species, is what they imprint on.”

So how did this duckling duo end up thinking a dog was their parent? It turns out it wasn’t part of the original plan when Frances Marsh, 25, and her family bought two two-day-old ducklings at a local garden center near their home in...

Atlantic Beach, N.C.

Yogi, the family’s 5-year-old corgi, was in the car that day and was instantly fascinated by the family’s purchase.

“They were in a little box. He just leaned his head over and licked them,” Marsh said.

Ever since, the ducklings, Biggie and ‘Pac, have chosen to follow Yogi, as if he were their mother.

Alertly spotted by Sender Inner Nicholas H. Story and hovertexts by Amy Enchelmeyerfor Discovery News. Photos by Frances Marsh. More on this story over on Discovery News.

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