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Uploaded: Thursday, March 5, 2009, 9:57 AM

Duck causes south Palo Alto power outage
Almost 2,000 homes affected by morning outage

Posted by sally, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 10:05 am

duck causes "outrage"?

Posted by MidtownMom, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 10:07 am

It sure caused a "Outrage" :)

Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 10:07 am

This would not happen if the power lines were underground.

Posted by WilliamR, a resident of the Fairmeadow neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 10:07 am

If the power went off when I was getting ready for work, I might be 'outraged'.

Posted by Duck dilemma, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 10:12 am

How is the duck did he/she survive?

Posted by lm, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 10:44 am

do you REALLY think the duck is alive? no..

Posted by Andrew, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 10:53 am

How is the duck? I think I'd have to guess lightly crispy, but burned around the edges, and likely delicious.

Posted by Joe, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 11:10 am

The problem appears under control, so I would like to duck further discussion.

Posted by IJustWorkHere, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 11:17 am

What's up with all the bird incidents lately? The flock of geese that hit Sully's plane in NY that forced him to land in the Hudson. A week after that there was another bird/plane accident. Just after that a helicopter carrying two of the host from the popular BBC show Top Gear hit some birds and was downed. Now we have the duck in the power lines. All this is starting to remind me of the beginning of the movie "The Core" where the birds lost their magnetic true north bearing and started flying into buildings and objects. Global warming perhaps?

Posted by lm, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 11:22 am

the birds are coming to attack! like the movie! ahh! .....not

Posted by Some Dude, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 11:30 am

Well at least in the case with the plane that landed in the hudson river, the geese were Canadian. So as per South Park - BLAME CANADA!

Posted by Bird Sympathizer, a resident of Menlo Park, on Mar 5, 2009 at 11:33 am

First, it's "outage" (as in electricity going out), not "outrage".

Secondly, if our lines were underground, birds would be protected against such peril. Poor innocent bird! All it was doing was doing what birds do - flying to get from one place to another.

Posted by YouShouldKnow, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 11:39 am

Unruly ducks are becoming a problem in Palo Alto. They offend our delicate sensibilities. I suggest we convene a panel with the City Council and Police Department BEFORE we have a major incident to decide how to deal with them in a politically sensitive way. Perhaps pull 200,000 from the coffers to hire Capt. Sullenberger as an outside consultant. I fear if we get too aggressive and start duck profiling we may have a major Waddle through the downtown streets of Palo Alto on our hands!

Posted by Common, a resident of the Greater Miranda neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 11:44 am

[Post removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language]

Posted by Scott, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 11:55 am

I live on Colorado and actually heard a loud pop when the power went out. Had no idea it was a duck . . .

Posted by Mark, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 12:07 pm

Absolutly SHOCKING! This is an OUTRAGE! The duck should have ducked. What kind of quack would fly into a highline wire. Let's not forget we are talking about a fly-by-night here! I can't get a line on this thing.

Posted by TwoSides, a resident of the South of Midtown neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 12:35 pm

PALO ALTO POLICE CHIEF RELEASES STATEMENT: ANY DUCK WEARING GANG AFFILIATED PLUMMAGE AND HANGING BY POWERLINES WILL BE CONSENSUALLY STOPPED....

These comments are qwacking me up!

Posted by Nintendo, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 12:57 pm

Where's Duck Hunter with the light zapper when you need it.

Posted by Still Wating for undergrounding, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 12:57 pm

When I moved into my house 40 years, I couldn't get an ocupancy permit until I paid to put in underground electrical and phone lines on my property even though the power and phone lines were still on poles across the street. 40 years later the poles are still there. However, if we put in fiber optics and underground the wires, where will the birds sit?

Posted by MidtownMom, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 1:13 pm

Ducks can fly that high?

Posted by Ronald L, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 2:00 pm

The duck must have been attracted to the area by the

signs placed on the new sound wall on West Bayshore.

Does anyone know who's idea those signs were?

Posted by Resident, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 3:04 pm

Why cry fowl? Maybe the new sound wall should include a warning for the ducks regarding the electrical wires. Any other ideas that are for the birds?

Posted by YouShouldKnow, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 3:36 pm

This is a web of intrigue...who is going to foot this bill? I suspect fowl play...

Posted by Milk&Quackers, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 3:58 pm

That duck sure needs glasses! How hard is it to see those powerlines?

Posted by Mom of 3, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 10:05 pm

I think he did see the W. Bayshore side of the soundwall and was shocked to death.

Posted by Duck dilemma, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2009 at 10:49 pm

Anymore duck jokes are for the birds!!

Posted by Gus L., a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Mar 6, 2009 at 7:59 am

These are corrupt City ducks that falsified records as to their flying ability.

Posted by Zogma, a resident of another community, on Mar 6, 2009 at 8:06 am

I wonder who will get the bill?

Posted by Ronald L, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Mar 6, 2009 at 9:12 am

Unless birds can read, those signs on the sound wall

are there to convince prospective homeowners they're next

to a nature preserve, not a freeway.

Posted by YouShouldKnow, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Mar 6, 2009 at 12:33 pm

The wooshing of cars, the rumbling of trucks, the clarion calls of horns, the sibilant hiss of tires racing on pavement, who wouldn't think those are the sounds of a nature preserve? Don't need no stinkin' signs to believe that...

Posted by Fowl Play, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Mar 6, 2009 at 1:50 pm

Mistake - the Utility Department have now issued a correction, the perpetrator of this heinous crime was a Canada goose; so we can indeed blame Canada for the huge increase in our electric bills!!

They say the goose is presumed dead, I wonder whose eating it for dinner, probably a raccoon or possum?

Posted by TwoSides, a resident of the South of Midtown neighborhood, on Mar 6, 2009 at 2:28 pm

Duck, duck duck....GOOSE!

Posted by student, a resident of the Palo Alto Hills neighborhood, on Mar 8, 2009 at 3:56 pm

Why are birds causing so much mischeif these days? A lady broke both her legs in a plane crash, thankfully everyone survived,what are they going to do next? Take the roof off the White House? You should Google "Bird causes accident" and see how many hits you get. You should hunt donw every single bird in America that has caused mischeif. A person would have gone to jail if they cut a power line, wouldn't they?

Posted by nora charles, a resident of Stanford, on Mar 10, 2009 at 7:48 pm
nora charles is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online

It's sad to me that the death of one of God's creatures, a duck, is fodder for jokes.

Posted by sharon, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Mar 10, 2009 at 8:42 pm

release your cats on them, anyway, I believe it was a Canada goose

sue Canada