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Sunday, June 3, 2018

ugly is in the eye of the beholder

There's a quaint duck pond not far from where we live.  Magnum and I walk passed it regularly on our old folks' walks.  It's where the goose families live.  It's where kids take their prom photos. It's where Meego crashed his bicycle that time he discovered the low coefficient of friction of fresh goose poop after a rain.  It's a fave little neighborhood spot as the pond also contains fish, and cute little kids go there hoping to catch one.

During one recent jaunt, we spotted this guy:



He stood out because he looks so different from the typical population of mallards - large and spotted with a red face and bumpy thing on his nose/beak.  Not being a duck expert, I wondered if he was another breed of duck or some sort of mutant.

I tried to learn about his differentness and googled "big duck" images in hopes of tracking it down.  That led mostly to...




Uhm.... no.

So I mentioned to Magnum that I couldn't yet find out the deal with that duck (which I have since learned is the term for females.  Males are drakes).  He punched something into his phone, and in a couple of seconds said,

"It's a Muscovy duck".

I looked at his phone to see a whole bunch of images similar to the big lumbering thing at the pond.

I was all, "What did you search on??"

And he said, "'Ugly duck', why what did you search on?"

"'Ugly duck didn't seem very nice, so I searched on 'big duck'"  (Note:  be careful of typos when doing a search on "Big Duck"...)

Besides, I really don't think Mr. Muscovy is ugly.  He's sort of big and badass looking really.  To me, anyways. And I learned that they make for nice pets and don't quack-quack-quack like mallards.  I wonder if he's an escapee from someone's property as Muscovies are not typically native to Colorado.

I guess we'll never know.  He's not talking.



9 comments:

ShadowRun300 said...

Sheesh. I had a lot to catch up on, but it’s a fun way to spend a Sunday evening. :)
In short, I never lived in a dorm, or apartment, and got married halfway through college, so I can’t relate to any of it. I love the hulk lizard, and I laughed out loud thinking about the pics we might have been looking at if you had made a typo when searching big duck.

Margaret (Peggy or Peg too) said...

oh my gosh that is funny. And I admit I have had a typo a time or two when I got something on my screen that I was not asking for and have a good laugh at my fat fingers.

John Holton said...

So that's what it is, a Muscovy duck! I saw one a few years ago and couldn't figure out what it was.

Abby said...

Never lived in a dorm OR an apartment?? You might need some drama to make up for. No?

Abby said...

And the "u" is right next to... that other letter on the keyboard.

Abby said...

I really did wonder at first if there was something "wrong" with it - like a chromosomal abnormality. Poor understood Muscovies!

Linda Hensley said...

I'm rather inclined to agree with "ugly", but I don't want to be judgmental especially since I have some ugly geese at my nearby wedding picture pond. I thought they were some sort of cross-bred Frankenstein kind of thing, but now I'm wondering if they're an actual breed. Love your drawing of Mort :)

ShadowRun300 said...

Don’t you worry. Hotel life more than makes up for it.

Abby said...

Apparently, they're an actual breed - the internet says so. I was actually leaning toward "ugly" too, but as long as Mrs. Muscovy duck doesn't think so, they'll live on.