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Category: Friendly Praise Archive

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Hitching A Ride On Mom


	Hitching A Ride On Mom When baby loons are just a few hours old, they must already instinctively know who their parents are and how to follow them, how to swim, how to beg for food, what to do when they hear their parent make a warning call, and how to climb up on their parent's back when they get tired or cold. Loon parents leave their babies sometime around the time that the babies are 11 weeks old. At that point the baby loons can't fly yet. They will have to learn many things all by themselves: how to fly, how to find all their own food, how to protect themselves against predators, and how, when, and where to migrate. Sometimes people think it's cruel of the parents to abandon the babies like this. But there is a very good reason for it. Loons can't walk on land. Before the babies can fly, they can't leave their lake, even if the lake runs out of food. So the parents leave in order to ensure that there will be enough food remaining for their babies. Kathy Salerni

Colette M. Metcalf

OMG! This is SOOO adorable:0)

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April 22, 2014

Debbie Bray

A very gorgeous image of the baby loon on her Mum's back. I love the speckled plumage, and I also like the survival story behind why the adults take off and leave their babies behind.