A great duckling duo

The ducklings pictured here are my pets. Their names are Baby and Bubby. Aren't they gorgeous? As you can see from the two photographs Baby (a girl) and Bubby (a boy) are cute ducklings.

Ducklings are fascinating creatures to watch, I believe. They are very active mostly during the day. They walk around the garden looking for food to eat. Ducklings are omnivorous, meaning they eat both plants and animals. One of their favourite food is Kankun (Ipomea aquatica) - water spinach). Therefore, I grow a patch of Kankun for my Baby and Bubby.

At times, they love to jump into the pond to float in the water and also to paddle across. As their feet are webbed, unlike in other birds, ducks can generally paddle well. When they are in the pond they nibble at my water lilly plants. I also see them digging in the mud. I do not know why they do so.

Their eyesight is very sharp. They will spot moving ants, flies, mosquitoes and tiny fish, then quickly catch them with their beaks and gobble them.

Their hearing too is very sharp. Hearing a crow's cawing sound Baby and Bubby promptly raise their heads, open their beaks wide apart and watch the sky in curiosity.

Then they come close to me to overcome the fear. Obviously they are frightened of strange noises or the cawing black crows.

Did you know that ducklings are good scavengers? I help them scavenge by giving them kitchen refuse - finely chopped vegetable ends that are the leftover stuff after cooking. They also love to eat leftover rice mixed with vegetables and egg yolk.

Does anyone of you have ducklings as pets? If so, here are some duckling activities that are fascinating to watch. They are; dipping the bodies in water, clearing their plumage rather exhaustively, the eating drinking scenario (one bite-one sip) and the adjusting of their bodies for a catnap.

After all their daytime pranks, Baby and Bubby show signs of weariness towards nightfall. They now want to retreat to their 'digs'. So, I lead them to their cage uttering koodu, koodu (cage). They know by now what koodu means. In fact, they have learnt the meaning of koodu and many other words that matter to them, from me.

Baby and Bubby are well behaved ducklings and a great source of joy to me.

Pix and text: Susil.

Penny's clever

My pet is penny,
like a ball of furr
It purrs around me,
Asking to be stroked.

She's really clever,
At keeping mice away.
Had a litter of kittens,
Like three stuffed balls.

Now I feel sad,
Because Penny is bad.
It roams all over,
Comes only for lunch.

I love my cat,
Clever at hunting.
Squirrels and birds,
To give her sons.

Milk is lapped,
In a few seconds.
Likes to rob,
Fish out of a dish.

Sadishi Doranegama, Grade 8-E, Girl's High School, Kandy.

Banti is a lovely kitten

My kitten's name is Banti. It is three years old. It was born on January 27. It has black stripes on grey skin.

It plays with me. When I throw the ball, it hits at it. It likes to drink milk and always sleeps under the chair. It wants meat or fish for all three meals.

Banti is a chubby kitten. I love it very much. I protect and take good care of it, always.

R. M. Dharani Rathnayake, Grade 8, Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya, Colombo 7.

Benjo - naughty but lovable

My pet is Benjo. His mother was a stray dog who came to our home, hungry and in search of food. My mother decided to look after her. She litterd one puppy and we named him Benjo.

Benjo has now grown up to be a handsome young dog. He is brownish in colour and is the naughtiest and playful dog in our neighbourhood.

His hobby is bringing in items belonging to our neighbours. Shoes, slippers, rugs, carpets, baby wear and T shirts are his favourite objects. Recently he brought a new valuable shoe and tore it into pieces.

My mother had to pay for a new pair of shoes. Benjo loves to play with Kalu, Tilly, Tommy, Manika and Bindu - all dogs in our neighbourhood. He is very lovable and friendly and even plays with our neighbour's big alsation, Wally. Bengo is very sad when he is put into his cage every morning waits to play with me when I return after school.

In spite of all his naughty work, we all love Benjo very much.

Dilshan Seneviratne, Grade 9-A (English M), Swarna Jayanthi Vidyalaya, Kegalle.

My pet - Scooby

He sits by the fire to get his head warm,
And takes a good nap cosy and calm.

You can't wake him with your might,
He stays still snoring where he is put,

He is so lazy while he is asleep,
But his sleep is not very deep,

He eats eggs, meat and fish,
Drinks all the milk in the dish,

He's clever at catching rats and cats,
And lays the rats near by mat,

I take him out for a walk,
There he runs, jumps and barks,

When I give him dinner at night,
He eats it with all his might,

At night he lays by my bed,
I cuddle him before going to bed.

Teshani Attanayake, Grade 6A, Bishop's College, Colombo 3.