AI Summary
5 min readIn April 2025, a speed camera in a Swiss town clocked a mallard duck flying at 52 kilometers per hour in a 30 km/h zone. The same thing had happened exactly seven years earlier, on April 13, 2018, at the same location, almost the same time, and at the same speed. Dr. Ann Jones, host of the ABC podcast What the Duck?, actually interviewed the local police chief about it. The coincidence—same date, same speed, seven years apart—sounded like internet myth, but Jones confirmed the story was real. She explains that mallards can reach about 80 km/h during migration, so 52 km/h is actually a slow cruising speed, possibly the duck coming in to land near water. The seven-year gap is less suspicious than it seems: birds often have extreme site fidelity, returning to the same spot year after year. The real mystery is whether it was the same duck both times.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Introduction & Guest Welcome** - Dr. Karl introduces Dr. Ann Jones, host of ABC's "What the Duck?" and her new series "Nature's Most Wanted" about criminal animals.
- 2 (01:16) **The Speeding Duck of Switzerland** - A mallard duck caught by a speed camera at 52 km/h in a 30 km/h zone—twice, seven years apart on the same date.
- 3 (07:28) **Intoxicated Elephants and the Alcohol Gene** - Why elephants can get drunk on small amounts of fermented fruit, debunking a long-standing scientific assumption.
- 4 (14:06) **Cats as Underwear Thieves** - The story of Leo the cat in New Zealand who has stolen over 350 items, including socks, cashmere, and insulation.
- 5 (21:33) **Opioid-Addicted Parrots in Tasmania** - Sulfur-crested cockatoos and corellas raiding legal opium poppy fields for the seeds.
- 6 (26:10) **Roosters Accused of Witchcraft** - A historical case of a rooster put on trial for laying an egg, considered an abomination by religious authorities.
- 7 (29:32) **Where to Find Ann's Work** - Ann directs listeners to her ABC podcast "What the Duck?" and the series "Nature's Most Wanted."
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Show Notes
Dr. Ann Jones joins me to chat about her hilarious new What the Duck? series, Nature's Most Wanted, which dives into the wild world of criminal animals.
We investigate some of nature's strangest case files… a duck caught speeding (twice), drug-addicted parrots, an underwear-nicking cat, drunk elephants, and heavyweight hamsters!
A funny look at the surprising ways animals collide with the human rules we've created.
What The Duck?! Nature's Most Wanted
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