You don't stop laughing when you die, you die when you stop laughing

Ducks executing their divide and conquer ploy.

BTW: I've loved dogs and I treasure my cats, so there's no bias in this story, it's just cute.

I was out walking in 2010's fantastic fall this week. I'd just been up to see the pictographs on the side of Ha Ling mountain with a buddy. The last time I went there the trail was blocked for maintenance and you couldn't get to them. That was two years ago and I remember it as a steep hike, me puffing up the side, a good exercise with great views of the waterfall and two pristine, spring-fed lakes. This time we got to the lakes and I was still wondering when the steep part would start.
Good to know I am in much better shape these days.
I got pix of an amazing wall-full of icicles, round icicles along a spring fed stream and the hoop-holding Indian pictographs. On my way home I stopped at another lake hoping to get a reflection of the mountains in the water. I flushed a pair of mallards and stalked them as they glided among the lake's golden reeds and still waters. I heard a funny sound behind me and a golden retriever poked his head into the lake.
Off went my ducks and on went a frown: the signage was clear about no dogs allowed around the lake, they had a huge dog area of their own nearby. But dog owners, many of them, don't think rules apply to them. They refuse to use leashs, or use extendable leashes that mean they have no effective control  over their dogs, One bragged the other day that she connected two extendable leashes to 40 feet so her animal could get a good workout while she was obeying the leash law. Sigh.
This owner didn't even pretend, she had her two animals off leash in a restricted area without apology and I was concerned for my ducks.
Silly me.
The retriever jumped in and started paddling straight toward the pair. They glided smoothly away. The dog paddled harder and drew closer. The ducks looked at each other, waited a bit, then split up.
The dog followed the male, then realized there was only one duck. He got confused and turned toward the now-distant female. She allowed the retriver to close the gap, then lifted gracefully from the water and landed  out of reach.
It was all done so smoothly the dog never knew what happened.
The owner did.
I laughed at the ducks' clever ploy as she called in her hapless pet. "Ducks are way smarter," she shrugged as she stepped away from her wet pet shaking off the water and they headed off.
It wasn't a belly laugh quip, but I chuckled all the way around the lake as the ducks returned to their reed dinner.