These Ducklings Follow Their ‘Adopted’ Mother Everywhere She Goes

If you have ever seen a long line of ducklings waddling across a road, you know that they follow their mother dutifully, even in the face of oncoming traffic. Ducklings, like many species of birds whose young leave the nest early, are able to identify their own mother and siblings based on sight and won’t follow other mothers or siblings. This ability to recognize and follow their family greatly reduces the chance that ducklings will wander off into danger.Show more

Though it often works out that the mother is the first thing the duckling sees, this doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, if a duckling is separated from their mother right after birth, it’s possible that they grow up following whatever moves around them during this time. A typical example of this abnormal imprinting behavior are these baby ducks. They have imprinted on a small dog and now they think it's their mother. Wherever he goes, they go. If he stops, they stop. If he jumps, they jump. They are perfect copy cats and have excellent following abilities. The ducklings won’t leave his sight even if they are forced to. It is natural for them and nobody can go against nature. Unfortunately, the downside of this situation is that these young animals might have a hard time detaching themselves from their adopted 'mother'. That means that they are often unable to return to the wild or socialize with their own species.

Whether these baby ducks will continue following the dog around for the rest of their lives, is anybody's guess.