Widow penguin breaks up gay penguin pair

[Swede]

Everyone who works at the San Francisco Zoo knows about Harry and Pepper, two male Magellanic penguins who share a burrow on Penguin Island.

They have been cohabitating for six years, even hatching a surrogate chick together and raising it as two proud gay daddies. They show all the behaviors of a heterosexual penguin couple - building a nest together, preening each others' feathers and love-tapping beaks. They just happen to be the only two dude penguins with the same address on Penguin Island.

All was domestic bliss until their next-door neighbor Fig died, widowing his mate, Linda.

"Whenever there's a single bird on the island, there's always a mad dash to find another mate or lose their burrow," said Harrison Edell, curator of birds.

In this case, it was Harry who strayed. He walked next door and bunked down with Linda in March, just in time for breeding season. They built a nest together, and Linda laid two eggs.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/14/BAUS18NTE7.DTL

[EndersDame]

1. That Hussy!

[SeattleGirl]

2. Home wrecker!

[sarge43]

3. You all stop bad mouthing Harry. n/t

[Pool Hall Ace]

4. Huh. I wasn't aware of this pair of gay penguins. I knew about the pair in Germany.

Did Linda try to convince Harry that he could be "cured" of his homosexuality? Or perhaps Harry is actually bi and his relationship with Pepper just could not be saved?

I'll reserve judgment until I know the whole story.

[Strong Atheist]

5. The only thing Woody Allen ever said that I liked:

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/153779

[Bucky]

6. So it's true - Straight marriage is a threat to gay marriage!... Also, God hates Figs

You know, when they came up with the first gay penguins, it was only a matter of time before they came up with the first penguin fag hag.

[dugaresa]

7. An older widow with the money left from Fig's insurance policy

I think Harry's an opportunistic gigolo.

;-)

[tigereye]

8. lots of creatures have complex sexual lives

I love this book - Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation. Fascinating and gives one a whole new perspective on the animal kingdon.