Not all Ducks are Alike
November 6th 2007 21:29
When people think of ducks they usually think of the Pekin duck, which one author called it, the “duckiest” of ducks. This is the famous white-feathered, yellow-billed duck that quacks and is very gentle and timid.
But did you know that, like dogs, ducks come in all shapes and sizes? The antithesis of the Pekin is the Muscovy duck. It is by no means your stereotypical duck. With its large, solid body (the males are almost as large as a goose) and red skinned, featherless face, Muscovies do not quack and, unlike the Pekin, can be very aggressive.
Which is how I became the victim of several duck attacks.
Shortly after my beloved female ‘quackers’, Brown-o and White-o were stolen, my parents decided to get me two replacement ducklings. Unfortunately, they assumed the ducklings were Pekins, which is what White-o was (to this day, my sister and I have been unable to identify what breed Brown-o was). Instead, the ducklings turned out to be Muscovies. It sounds awful in hindsight to say this, but my sister and I were disappointed in them. Firstly, they did not quack. The female one would let out the occasional beep while the male one would simply hiss at us. Secondly was their appearance: while still mourning the loss of our beloved pets, their strange appearance only reminded us of what we had lost, although I had to keep reminding my sister that they had no control over their appearance and we should learn to love them for what they were. But loving them was hard because the male one started to attack us. He would chase after us and constantly nip at our heels. Unlike Pekins, Muscovies have beaks, not bills. What difference does this make? you might ask. Well, it makes all the difference to a duck owner as bills make it harder for a duck to bite someone so the worst thing Brown-o and White-o ever did to us was nibble our fingers. Which tickled rather than hurt. But beaks make it easier for any bird to bite so when Paul, the duck, bit us, boy did it hurt.
We tried to train Paul not to bite but it was like trying to tame a lion. The attacks got so bad my sister and I were terrified to leave the house without a tennis racket, which we used to protect our legs from Paul’s bites. One afternoon, Paul chased me up the backyard stairs, biting me all the way. I’m not proud of what I did next but I had finally had enough, so I hit him with the tennis racket, hoping he’d now leave me alone but he didn’t. He kept biting and biting and biting. Talk about biting the hand that feeds!
Paul and the other duck, Midnight Girl, soon became parents. Unlike Brown-o and White-o, who tenderly looked after their eggs even though they were ‘sterile’, Midnight Girl killed one of the ducklings once it had hatched. Not the stuff of happy pet memories.
After a year of constantly being bitten whenever anyone in my family left or entered the house, my parents had had enough. One hot summer’s day, right after my school term had finished, my parents took the ducks and their remaining ducklings and donated them to the local nature reserve, which had another Muscovy to keep them company.
But did you know that, like dogs, ducks come in all shapes and sizes? The antithesis of the Pekin is the Muscovy duck. It is by no means your stereotypical duck. With its large, solid body (the males are almost as large as a goose) and red skinned, featherless face, Muscovies do not quack and, unlike the Pekin, can be very aggressive.
Which is how I became the victim of several duck attacks.
Shortly after my beloved female ‘quackers’, Brown-o and White-o were stolen, my parents decided to get me two replacement ducklings. Unfortunately, they assumed the ducklings were Pekins, which is what White-o was (to this day, my sister and I have been unable to identify what breed Brown-o was). Instead, the ducklings turned out to be Muscovies. It sounds awful in hindsight to say this, but my sister and I were disappointed in them. Firstly, they did not quack. The female one would let out the occasional beep while the male one would simply hiss at us. Secondly was their appearance: while still mourning the loss of our beloved pets, their strange appearance only reminded us of what we had lost, although I had to keep reminding my sister that they had no control over their appearance and we should learn to love them for what they were. But loving them was hard because the male one started to attack us. He would chase after us and constantly nip at our heels. Unlike Pekins, Muscovies have beaks, not bills. What difference does this make? you might ask. Well, it makes all the difference to a duck owner as bills make it harder for a duck to bite someone so the worst thing Brown-o and White-o ever did to us was nibble our fingers. Which tickled rather than hurt. But beaks make it easier for any bird to bite so when Paul, the duck, bit us, boy did it hurt.
We tried to train Paul not to bite but it was like trying to tame a lion. The attacks got so bad my sister and I were terrified to leave the house without a tennis racket, which we used to protect our legs from Paul’s bites. One afternoon, Paul chased me up the backyard stairs, biting me all the way. I’m not proud of what I did next but I had finally had enough, so I hit him with the tennis racket, hoping he’d now leave me alone but he didn’t. He kept biting and biting and biting. Talk about biting the hand that feeds!
Paul and the other duck, Midnight Girl, soon became parents. Unlike Brown-o and White-o, who tenderly looked after their eggs even though they were ‘sterile’, Midnight Girl killed one of the ducklings once it had hatched. Not the stuff of happy pet memories.
After a year of constantly being bitten whenever anyone in my family left or entered the house, my parents had had enough. One hot summer’s day, right after my school term had finished, my parents took the ducks and their remaining ducklings and donated them to the local nature reserve, which had another Muscovy to keep them company.
A White Muscovy Duck - image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
| 55 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
