Thursday, February 23, 2012

Cletus

My sister requested a blog post dedicated to one of her favourite ducks: Cletus. So here it is:


My sister has loved her pet ducks for her entire life. One of my favourite photos of her as a baby shows her wearing a bathing suit and sneakers, squatted down next to a duck. She has her arms folded like wings, and she and the duck are staring intently at each other. Each one trying to figure out the other.


But having ducks is not always easy. I mean, they are low-maintenance when it comes to feeding and clean-up, but they are not good when it comes to self-defense. Hence the phrase "like sitting ducks." Over the years we have lost many to predators such as dogs, raccoons (NO, they are not cute!), opossum, and weird fungal infections. One time my sister came outside to find just a duck foot. No blood or feathers. Just a lone foot. After checking the rest of the ducks, she realized that one of them was perfectly fine yet missing a foot. The foot had simply fallen off. He lived many years more, but always had trouble swimming in a straight line....


Cletus is depicted below. This duck has the wildest hairstyle; like a giant cotton ball has been glued to its head. It is the best animal hair besides Hank's.

(Sister & Cletus)
(In action) 
(In hiding)

1 comment:

  1. Aww, I love Cletus! I think of your sister every time I feed or gather eggs from my backyard chickens.

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