No Lame Ducks Here: Congress Joins Together in Fowl Language

Hyper-partisanship is at an all-time high on Capitol Hill. So it's surprising to find an issue most lawmakers can agree upon: the safety and security of the four broods of mallard ducks that call the Capitol Reflecting Pool their home.

Duckling update: Ramp in Use! pic.twitter.com/34E6oJOkCF

— U.S. Capitol (@uscapitol) May 16, 2017

From the Architect of the Capitol:

The Capitol Reflecting Pool was designed to serve as a counterpoint to the one at the western end of the National Mall, between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. Since its completion, the Capitol Reflecting Pool has been a popular attraction – for ducks and humans! The broad, gently sloped limestone coping of the pool, however, has an unintended side-effect for our feathered-friends. Some ducklings have trouble climbing out of the pool or returning to it once out of the water.

This posed a pressing problem for our nation's top legislative officials. And so Congress authorized the Architect of the Capitol, along with a local non-profit organization, to design and build a logical solution: duck ramps.

Capitol Reflecting Pool has been a popular attraction—for ducks +humans! NEW: 2 ramps to safely assist ducks in/out: https://t.co/IRHGHmwQ5T pic.twitter.com/bPFWQsMXAW

— U.S. Capitol (@uscapitol) May 15, 2017

And so, the means to move mallards in and out of their milieu were installed on Monday. Since then, the Capitol has been atwitter with the ducks' determination.

Progress comes in different forms, folks.

-- Jason Weingardt

(Photo Credit: NCinDC via Flickr / Creative Commons)

P.S. - if you like Countable, we'd really appreciate it if you left a nice review in the App Store. It really helps us out! So go ahead - write one now.