Male Dog Adopts Two Ducklings In Motherly Fashion

          
Think you’ve seen the cutest thing today? Think again!                 

Meet Yogi the male Corgi who is now a “mother” to two ducklings.               

Yogi and through filial imprinting, or licking, demonstrates a type of biological attachment that happens when an animal establishes a parental relationship with the first suitable thing it sees during an interval of time called the critical period that usually stretches between 13 to 16 hours after birth.            

In this particular case, Yogi established the bond after licking the hatchlings as they were being transported home by a North Carolina family. By popping his head inside the box where they had been placed, he had imprinted the two two-day-old ducklings who consider him now to be their mother.            

Yogi often sleeps next to the duckling’s box, herds them with his snout, and once even barked to get his owner’s attention when one of the ducks was stuck on its back. The three are usually seen together marching through the greenery or swimming in the water.                 

Biggie and Pac, the two ducklings are said to be inseparable from their canine “mother” although it is likely that this may change in time as they get older.             

But for now they are together so let’s just enjoy the photos of this loving, interspecies family!