The reason the Venice canals have a steep vertical rather than a gradual slope: ducks pooped on the slope, and “…who wants a slimy, defecated slope instead of a nice one you could moor your boat against.”
Sounds reasonable, but I wish we could have arrived at a better solution to a problem animal than habitat elimination — like genetically engineering ducks that don’t poop.
no-the ducks were all right. it was part of shoup’s presentation on how successful the improvement of venice was, that the ducks continue to thrive there, perhaps more so since now the canals are full of water instead of polluted sludge. he had a nice little photo of them toddling about with their offspring, post-canal redo.
Ahhh, that man loves ducks!
The canals of Venice are icons that serve interactive examples for various cities in the world.