04 April 2007

Stumpy

I wrote about Stumpy, the four legged duck on 19 February 2007.

He's now all grown up. From BBC News again -

Last Updated: Tuesday, 3 April 2007, 09:05 GMT 10:05 UK

Four-legged Stumpy 'doing well'

A duck who appeared on TV around the world when he was born with four legs has amazed his owners by surviving into adulthood, despite his deformity.

Stumpy was born in February at Warrawee Duck Farm, Copythorne, Hants, with two extra legs behind the two he moves on.

A duckling, called Jake, was born with a similar mutation in Australia in 2002, but died soon after birth.

But Stumpy's owner, Nicky Janaway, said he was thriving on the farm and had now almost reached full-size.

Due to his rare mutation, Mrs Janaway said she thought Stumpy would not survive in the wild but was making himself at home on the New Forest farm, and his spare legs had acted as stabilisers.

Global fame

Mrs Janaway said: "He's doing really well. He is still very tame and loves all the attention he's been getting.

"He won't be allowed to roam the farm because his back legs stick out and could get caught in brambles and I might never find him.
Stumpy the Duck and owner Nicky Janaway
Mrs Janaway was "gobsmacked" when she saw four legs

"We're making a very big pen for him to make sure he is kept very safe and he has been paired up with Alice - he seems a very happy duck."

When Stumpy was born on 7 February, Mrs Janaway said she was "gobsmacked" to discover the extra legs.

She added: "It was absolutely bizarre, I was thinking 'he's got too many legs' and I kept counting 'one, two, three, four'.

Stumpy's condition has earned him fame - he made the headlines and made television appearances across the globe after his birth and an online blog has been ensuring fans can follow his every move.

[/end of BBC story]

And here is a bigger picture
Stumpy the four-legged duckling has amazed his owner, Nicky Janaway, by thriving

Also check out Stumpy's diary.

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Nothing much to report for today. Emily isn't coming over tonight, so I'll have to tape Heroes and Prison Break again for her.

1 comment:

jess said...

this duck is freaky