Page One

Peepers found safe 

DES MOINES, Iowa — Police say they have quacked the case of a stolen duck. 

Rita Cane came forward after seeing a story in the newspaper about the stolen pet, a white duck named Peepers. She said she scooped the duck out of the street last week to rescue him. She’s no ducknapper, she said. 

“I’m a good Christian woman and I plan to stay that way,” the 62-year-old Des Moines woman said. “I’m a good Samaritan.” 

Duck owner Brad Moureau said he got a call early Thursday that Peepers was safe — and that he owed $41 to get the duck out of the animal shelter. 

That’s when the insurance man stepped in. Bill Robertson, a regional sales coordinator for AFLAC, heard that Peepers resembles the company’s TV spokesduck and that passers-by often yell “AFLAC, AFLAC” when they see Peepers in Moureau’s yard. 

Robertson paid the shelter’s fee. 

“Maybe we can make Peepers our local mascot,” he said. 

Fish for display only 

SACRAMENTO — Rainbow trout are vanishing from the fish pond at California’s Capitol Park, state police said. 

The fish pond at the 40-acre park is within view of security cameras of the state Capitol. A 4-foot-high perimeter fence and “no trespassing” signs make it clear the trout are not to be harassed or hooked. 

But the fish keep vanishing. 

“They disappear constantly,” said Stephen Fisher, caretaker of the 60-year-old pond. 

This spring, Fisher counted 35 trout in the 25,000-gallon pool. As of mid-July, there were 19. Six succumbed to disease or heat, but the others are missing in action — apparently snatched from the water, he said.