I spotted this Muscovy duck the other day on the Pawtuxet River in Rhode Island.
It couldn’t be the political climate that’s driving folks out of Florida, could it? Nah, probably just the heat and hurricanes.
Muscovys are lovers of the tropics, usually, and this is the first one I’ve seen in the northeast in a decade of steady paddling in the waters of five states up here. From the little research I have done, however, they do adapt well to colder climates and have been known to be around here.
They’re a wild duck species native to Mexico as well as Central and South Americas. And prolific shitters and beggars. They rule the roost in John Prince Park near my house in Florida.
Once, on a first-time visit to my abode there, my Illinois-native parents came back from a walk in the park with a tale of stealthily creeping up on a family of Muscovys (10 ducklings at a time is not unusual), hoping for a closer look at them. When the ducks spotted them, they laughingly related, the whole family came speed waddling over for an expected handout.
They are so common around me in Florida in fact, that I don’t even bother taking photos of them, so the only picture I have of a Muscovy is the one above from Rhode Island.
Theories about how it got its name run the gamut from Muscovy being the name of the current Moscow region to a firm called The Muscovy Company that traded in them to a native American nation in today’s Columbia called Muisca to the Miskito Indians off the coast of Nicaragua and Honduras.
You can go to Wikipedia and add your own theory I am sure. But I will warn you that the theory involving the musky odor they put off is already taken.
I will leave you with one more factoid to ponder: male Muscovy ducks have helical penises that spiral when erect and females have vaginas that coil in the opposite direction. Females appear to have evolved to limit forced copulation by males.
Here are some more photos from my paddle on the Pawtuxet in case you’re interested. Clink on any one and you can scroll through the larger versions.
The Urge to be Someplace Else 
Wish WE were in Rhode Island! Glasgow Jim This communication and any attachments may include privileged, confidential and/or copyright information or material. It is intended for the addressed recipient(s) only. The contents have not to be disclosed to anyone other than the recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, please note that any dissemination, distribution or copying of the e-mail and any attachments thereto is strictly prohibited and it may be unlawful. If you are not the recipient and have received the email in error, please return it to the sender, delete the email and destroy copies of it.
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