NOTICE: No Peeps were harmed during creation of this diorama; OK, unless you count the Peeps eaten by Mrs Arneson’s kindergarten class at Stonebridge Elementary School in Stillwater. The Bald Peeps were expertly painted by my grand daughter Hannah Ferguson.
The annual northbound migration of the magnificent American Bald Peep is well underway along the Mississippi River flyway. These giant raptors began landing at Harriet Island Regional Park in downtown St. Peeps early this week.
Wally Cox, an expert Peeper, revealed that the soaring marshmallow fowl, after wintering in DeBary, FL, crossed the gulf coast to the mouth of the Mississippi where they entered the Passes, crossed over New Orleans and soared northward. Sadly, many of the winged confections melted into pastel blobs upon landing aboard a steel grain barge on one really hot spring afternoon 20 miles south of Baton Rouge.
The meltdown continued up river as unseasonably hot temperatures and the insatiable appetites of youngsters in Missouri and Illinois ravaged the flock.
Undaunted, nearly three dozen American Bald Peeps landed on the riverboat Jonathan Padelford March 10 and began preparations for a colorful spring season on the Upper Mississippi River.
The American Bald Peep is born with a distinctive yellow, pink, purple, green or blue appearance. During early years these colors create a very visible, attractive target for numerous predators. They are especially vulnerable to overactive kindergarten students. Sometime during year three they begin to take on the dark tones and shortly thereafter the distinctive white crown appears on their heads. Only one in 5,000 Peeps reaches adulthood.
Upon reaching adulthood Peeps become rock hard and will break the tooth of any human predator.
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