this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2025
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Science Memes

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[โ€“] marighost@piefed.social 202 points 2 months ago (2 children)
[โ€“] fedditter@feddit.org 179 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Back in my days ducks were just fish with extra wings and legs

[โ€“] smeg@feddit.uk 92 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I see you're a follower of catholic doctrine

[โ€“] Brunbrun6766@lemmy.world 29 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Also; Beavers

Also also; Crocodiles/Alligators

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[โ€“] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 2 months ago

Either that or he's a follower of Hank Green: https://youtu.be/-C3lR3pczjo (plus a few more of his recent videos)

[โ€“] ignoble_stigmas@sh.itjust.works 21 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Please narrow it down, how many extra wings and legs?

[โ€“] Enkrod@feddit.org 11 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I mean... aren't all tetrapods just fish with time added?

[โ€“] Juice@midwest.social 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Land creatures = fish + time

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[โ€“] dustyData@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

I mean, for that matter, neither fish or bird technically exist (also, trees). So it doesn't matter. Try feeding birdseed to a penguin and you'll see.

[โ€“] InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 58 points 2 months ago (4 children)

If I'm being completely fair and objective, not all birds eat "bird seed" and not everyone is well-informed about the diets of various types of bird. But also, at least where I live, some parks have signs that specifically say not to feed the ducks/geese at all, and I can totally understand how that might lead people to conclude that it's not safe to feed them.

On the other hand, I'm reminded of the time that I was at an insect exhibit when one of the educators running the booth referred to "these animals" and the woman behind me asked something like "bugs is animals?" And it still leaves me perplexed that otherwise seemingly fully functional people make it to adulthood thinking that insects are not animals.

[โ€“] ArsonButCute@lemmy.dbzer0.com 36 points 2 months ago (6 children)

I've met people who don't know humans are animals.

[โ€“] Soapbox@lemmy.zip 16 points 2 months ago

I've met a few who don't know humans are animals. But I have met a ton who do not believe that humans are animals. They are generally far less pleasant people to deal with than the first group.

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[โ€“] LePoisson@lemmy.world 24 points 2 months ago

Honestly, I can see how someone would think insects and animals are different things given that we never call them animals like 99% of the time.

Plus they're so different than say, a cat or bird or fish, it almost feels like they shouldn't be called animals.

Of course, insects are animals, but I've heard people say way dumber things than that, things like, "Trump is not a pedo."

[โ€“] 0x0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I recall in a high school biology class, a classmate asked whether atoms were alive. The teacher was kind, but perplexed. She went into detail about how cells, which we do consider to be alive, are built out of molecules (not alive), which are built from atoms (not alive), etc. I'm not sure the question asker had ever considered that cells are not the same as atoms ๐Ÿค”

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[โ€“] LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world 49 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I have ducks and they go absolutely crazy for watermelon. My neighbor gave me half a watermelon the other day because he couldn't fit it in his fridge. I have it to the ducks and they went wild. Luke a cartoon style piranha feeding frenzy. The white birds looked like they'd been drenched in the blood of their enemies. One of them decided to sit in the empty rind after they were done and laid an egg in it, to assert dominance.

They also love birdseed and peas. I had a duck who could recognize canned peas based on the labels and would flip out if he saw me approaching with them. He also adored bird seed and would help himself to the bag if it was in a place he could knock it over. Found him stuck in an empty birdseed bag once. It wasn't empty that morning. Bro was a glutton, but he was a good boi.

[โ€“] Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 15 points 2 months ago (3 children)

One of them decided to sit in the empty rind after they were done and laid an egg in it

Wait, really? The rest of your comment sounds sincere, but this is so absurd that I genuinely can't tell if this happened or if you're just being funny.

[โ€“] LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world 21 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Yeah. Ducks are absolutely ridiculous creatures. My two pekins follow the cat motto of "if I fits I sits." I find them in silly places all the time. The female, Judy's, favorite place to sit outside is a hole she dug herself over a couple of months.

[โ€“] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

Duck tax means sending cute pictures of ducks btw.
You have to give it every time you mention you own a duck.

Now without further ado, send duck pics.

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[โ€“] fedditter@feddit.org 36 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Can someone explain what is funny about that? Autism adhd here.

[โ€“] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 138 points 2 months ago (8 children)

People normally feed ducks food like bread. The woman was used to this, so she was startled to see someone feeding ducks birdseed.
We're used to birdseed being used to feed songbirds or the various tree birds.
When the woman was directly informed that ducks are birds she was directly confronted with the knowledge that we put waterfowl in a different mental category than arboreal birds.
It's easy to imagine the feeling of realizing you've had a very basic, totally benign blindspot in how you conceptualize something as simple as ducks, and the woman's reaction captures that deep feeling of "now that you say it it's obvious" that a lot of people have felt. Knowing the feeling, it being slightly uncomfortable but harmless, and the general whimsy of ducks makes it funny.

It's funny because feeling empathy for silly mistakes makes us laugh.

[โ€“] Brainsploosh@lemmy.world 43 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Wow, this is an exemplary explanation. Being clear with several levels of cultural knowledge as well as the emotional load behind several meanings and juxtapositions, and still comes across with the humor unscathed.

I dream to one day attain such mastery.

[โ€“] grue@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago

Username checks out.

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[โ€“] Snailpope@lemmy.world 28 points 2 months ago

Your systematic analysis engaged my chuckle reaction. Thank you and have a good day

[โ€“] Eiri@lemmy.ca 13 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I'll be honest I personally assumed ducks only ate fish.

[โ€“] Shareni@programming.dev 19 points 2 months ago (7 children)

Wrong shaped beak for that, shovel instead of spear

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[โ€“] AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@sh.itjust.works 66 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Woman just realized for the first time that ducks eating birdseed were, in fact, birds.

[โ€“] adry@piefed.social 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

(Can I patronize? should be funny to point out that) ackshually, ducks are birds regardless of what they're eating. Like, at all times. Same happens with Penguins, Ostrich, and... Mmm.. other birds! gotcha!! Can't say the same with Velociraptors :P

[โ€“] Schmuppes@lemmy.today 25 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Nobody said that the act of eating birdseed was the thing that makes the ducks birds.

[โ€“] zqwzzle@lemmy.ca 16 points 2 months ago (3 children)

JavaScript devs learning python: is this duck typing?

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Half cut seedless grapes

Note: if you choose to feed grapes to ducks in a public place, please be courteous about any that may fall on the ground or be left uneaten. Grapes are dangerous for dogs and aren't good for cats either, but some will absolutely eat them if they're left around.

[โ€“] Mist101@lemmy.world 31 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The first thing they ask for IS grapes.

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[โ€“] AllHailTheSheep@sh.itjust.works 27 points 2 months ago (1 children)

ducks also go crazy for blueberries. I raised a duck and they were always his favorite

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[โ€“] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

Then, suddenly, Diogenes appears, plucks every feather from the duck, shoves it into the faces of those sitting on the bench, screams 'This is no bird, behold, a man!', laughs manically, shits in the duck pond, runs away.

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[โ€“] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 18 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I actually know where that sign is. Everyone ignores it, of course.

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[โ€“] Eh_I@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)
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[โ€“] toynbee@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago

Oh, it's not for growing them?

[โ€“] LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world 15 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Chose pics from a span of 4 years that shows a variety of birds. The lil shits have been hard to get pics of lately because they've been acting spicy. I think the heat this summer is making them cranky.

I have 9 birds now, all grown. 2 Muscovy females named Lady and Mama Duck. Mama Duck will fight anyone and anything she thinks is gonna mess with the flock. I caught her trying to fight a deer the other day when she escaped xontainment. One female Pekin named Judy, who judges the fuck outta me every time I see her. One male Pekin named Salt who is chonky. One female golden layer named Caprisun, who is by far the dumbest bird I've ever met. One male khaki Campbell named Pepper, who is bonded with Salt. One khaki Campbell female named Cayenne, who doesn't have a super distinct personality. One mallard female named Amy, who looks like a male because when female duck ovaries die, they start to look like males. One female Cayuga named Chanel who is like Cayenne with no distinct personality lol.

The real big one in the pics below was Antonio. A gigantic Muscovy male. Best bird I ever had. He was so happy and loved caring for babies and loved hugs and pets. When he had babies to care for, he was known as Big Papa Tony. He sadly passed this past winter.

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[โ€“] Hoimo@ani.social 10 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Why is bread bad for duck, but cooked rice good? Isn't that basically the same thing? Bread is wheat, water, bit of salt. Cooked rice is rice, water, bit of salt. Or can't ducks handle gluten?

[โ€“] Rednax@lemmy.world 29 points 2 months ago

I looked it up, and bread has about double the amount of carbs as cooked rice, which is probably what is making bread bad.

Probably a rice-only diet would also be bad for them, but nobody brings them tons and tons of rice, while everyone throws them a ton a bread.

[โ€“] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 22 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Attention shoppers: we need a duck scientist. Duck scientist to the thread, please.

[โ€“] Birch@sh.itjust.works 14 points 2 months ago

A duck scientist, or a duck scientist? Either way you'll just get a quack

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[โ€“] TheOakTree@lemmy.zip 18 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Bread is filling and high in carbs, but has little nutritional value. When ducks eat bread, it tastes good and it also encourages them to fill up on it, which can lead to protein deficiency iirc. Also ducks with diets low in certain vitamins develop a condition known as angel wing, which renders the wings unusable due to excessive feather growth (too heavy for young ducks' wings; developing wings are bent outwards due to weight).

[โ€“] vaionko@sopuli.xyz 18 points 2 months ago (1 children)

When ducks eat bread, it tastes good and it also encourages them to fill up on it, which can lead to protein deficiency

Looks like I'm a duck

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[โ€“] Zacryon@feddit.org 10 points 2 months ago (6 children)
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