December 5, 2006 > Ohlone College has a diverse population

by Stewart Dawson

The newest resident of Ohlone College's pond is a young American coot, a member of the Rallidae family of birds. This is the first coot I've ever seen at Ohlone's pond, and when I first saw it I thought surely it would be a temporary guest, passing through on its migratory route.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the coot had stayed through the Thanksgiving holiday, but was most captivated to see that Ohlone's three resident ducks (two-black/green and one gray) had not only tolerated the coot's presence, they had welcomed the coot into their family.

Throughout the weekend, while on patrol of the campus, I stopped by the pond, and saw the ducks and coot swimming, walking, and eating together. When I stopped to feed the ducks, as is my weekly routine, the coot came up onto the grass, too, to get some bread.

From what I have studied on the subject of interspecies relations amongst waterfowl, something like this seldom, if ever, happens.  To me, this signifies that there is something contagious in the air at Ohlone College about appreciating and accentuating diversity!