I got a duck whilst motorbiking across Vietnam

Aug 14, 2014 2:39 PM

danielmcallen

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The first ever photo I got with Rab, about 5 minutes after we picked him up from his previous owners

Rab

Rab, who I mentioned earlier on, came with us into the Phong Nha Caves. These are the biggest caves in the world, and the biggest of the group is supposedly so big that all of Manhattan could fit inside it, including skyscrapers etc.

We'd take Rab to bars and restaurants with us and he always became the centre of attention - He's a friendly duck. He'd sit on my shoulder for up to an hour without trying to escape, he just loves company.

Here he is pictured at Easy Tiger Bar in Phong Nha, on top of the musician's head

Of course if we're eating, Rab must eat too

On the way to Thai Hoa, we took another water break and so we thought we'd get a photo with Rab and the scenery

Managed to bag a couple of bikes, and a free duck. Rab became our travel partner for the next month, he went everywhere with us.

He loves himself!

We tried to pass Rab on to other travellers so he could continue his travels, but unfortunately no one wanted him!

We set him free in a lake in Hanoi on the 8th of August 2014. I really hope he's doin good!

This is when we were trying to set him free but he wouldn't go, he just kept following us. We eventually had to just get on our motorbikes and drive off, it was totally heartbreaking and a moment I'll remember for the rest of my life

Again, another photo of him just before his eventual release

And this is the last ever photo I got with Rab!

May he live long and thrive in his new home

Capt. Killjoy here: he imprinted on humans. He's going to follow people around and get run over if he follows as far as the street.

11 years ago | Likes 15 Dislikes 0

Stop skipping leg day bro.

11 years ago | Likes 17 Dislikes 2

You bastard. Why wouldn't you keep him? Domestication of wild animals make for very low survival rates when released. Fuck I'm sad

11 years ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 0

Damn it, no animals are safe when you leave them in a 3rd world country! Good job duck killer.

11 years ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 0

I'm a hipster who can't get enough self gratification shots, also here's a duck.

11 years ago | Likes 12 Dislikes 1

I am way too emotionally invested in this duck's fate!

11 years ago | Likes 18 Dislikes 0

He clearly became a pet. And you op ditched him.

11 years ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

Found the Top Gear fan! I've always wanted to do this.

11 years ago | Likes 23 Dislikes 0

Greatest episode.

11 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Take him to Peking, he'll love it.

11 years ago | Likes 48 Dislikes 2

He's probably dead.

11 years ago | Likes 10 Dislikes 0

That bro most certainly does lift.

11 years ago | Likes 85 Dislikes 0

WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU LEAVE HIM. NO. NO YOU TAKE THAT DUCK WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO. AND YOU LOVE HIM. BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU. NO. JUST NO.

11 years ago | Likes 18 Dislikes 0

I never thought of be sad about someone setting a duck free but here I am worrying that he's wondering what he did wrong for you to leave

11 years ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 0

I don't think ducks are troubled by their consciences.

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I can't wait until the Pixar movie about this comes out in 2016.

11 years ago | Likes 16 Dislikes 1

No, it's going to make me cry.

11 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

As someone who raised a duck from an egg, this makes me very disappointed. I blame Hollywood and too many releasing endings in movies.

11 years ago | Likes 17 Dislikes 0

Or you know...Customs and Borders.

11 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 2

Yeah... Letting go of a domesticated duck was probably not the best idea. But way to try, cute pictures.

11 years ago | Likes 10 Dislikes 0

Your duck is dead now, OP :'(

11 years ago | Likes 10 Dislikes 0

You abandoned this domesticated duck and left it to die. He will not survive on his own. Please be responsible when taking new pets!

11 years ago | Likes 18 Dislikes 1

You know someone has made soup out of him by now, right?

11 years ago | Likes 37 Dislikes 1

Delicious, delicious soup.

11 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Rab still enjoys his life among humans

11 years ago | Likes 15 Dislikes 0

Serious question: Are ducks loyal pets? Do they identify with their keepers?

11 years ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 0

Only if you have performed the blood sacrifice ritual correctly

11 years ago | Likes 9 Dislikes 2

11 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

How did you manage to protect him from getting eaten? Serious question..

11 years ago | Likes 20 Dislikes 3

they didn't, they left a domesticated duck alone in vietnam, that there is someone's free dinner

11 years ago | Likes 23 Dislikes 0

Well that fact that he was a bonus gift with a bike purchase I'd say he was originally intended as food I'd say he made out pretty well.

11 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

This almost made me as sad as that damn scene in the fox and the hound when she leaves him in the woods. This also makes me want a duck

11 years ago | Likes 43 Dislikes 0

The saddest moment in animated movie history...

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

the saddest moment in my favorite childhood movie

11 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

I'm coming after you, you freaking ditched me.

11 years ago | Likes 1056 Dislikes 0

You need more points.

11 years ago | Likes 32 Dislikes 2

Fucking kill him rab.

11 years ago | Likes 50 Dislikes 1

mindcrack?

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 1

How does this only have 22 points?

11 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

I missed the early years. At 800 now.

11 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

955 now

10 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

955 now

10 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

WHY DIDN'T YOU KEEP HIM?

11 years ago | Likes 135 Dislikes 2

Because you can't bring live animals into the U.S.? It's that disease factor, yo.

11 years ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 0

Yes you can, there are just a lot of rules and procedures, depending on the animal and where it came from.

11 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 1

I don't care. I really don't. I just want to move on AND BEAT THOSE ASSHOLES! I'M FUCKING HUNGRY, BITCHES!

11 years ago | Likes 17 Dislikes 1

Maybe some nice human will come by and feed you

11 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Transporting a DUCK to the US would be crueller than leaving it on a lake.

11 years ago | Likes 29 Dislikes 0

True.

11 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Ok, people would be pissed if this were a cat or dog that you took in, domesticated, fed & then just abandoned...I'm just sayin...

11 years ago | Likes 190 Dislikes 9

people are pissed

11 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

well, i'm pissed

11 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Agreed... I find the ending quite sad... How could they just abandon an animal they domesticated?!

11 years ago | Likes 35 Dislikes 5

An animal they never asked for.

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

What were they supposed to do? You can't just take it on a plane.

11 years ago | Likes 17 Dislikes 1

It was a fully grown duck by the time they got it. Although I wonder what the owner's intentions were by giving away "free ducks."

11 years ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 0

truthfully it was probably raised to be eaten. but that duck is definitely going to die at that park. the duck's fate is sealed

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

That is pretty much a death sentence. A pet is a pet and should be properly cared for once domesticated.

11 years ago | Likes 17 Dislikes 0

Duck seemed to be already domesticated. They took him as an adult.

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I get that, but it was a domesticated animal when they accepted responsibility for it. They knew that when they adopted it.

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Not sure if they had a choice though. What if the airline had a no duck rule? Do they drive from Vietnam?

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I don't know the details, but I've seen a lot of "cool pets" which get adopted as a novelty, then abandoned when it's no longer convenient.

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Or...he let him go at a lake where other people would feed him.

11 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 3

Or... he let him go at a lake where other people will take him and eat him. This is Vietnam, not Central Park NYC

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

It's not like they had any other option. They tried to give it to people.

11 years ago | Likes 26 Dislikes 16

Okay really. I was under the impression that this was a trip. It's not like they could bring it back with them. What else was he to do?

11 years ago | Likes 18 Dislikes 3

Not get an animal that you know you are going to abandon later?

11 years ago | Likes 10 Dislikes 5

It was already being abandoned. The "previous owner" clearly didn't intend to take care of it.

11 years ago | Likes 11 Dislikes 0

They could've set him free somewhere in a rural area where he could find easy food or join a duck gang. Not in the city!!!

11 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 2

However in the city, at a pond like that, other people will feed him, especially since he's already domesticated.

11 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Sorry to burst your bubble, honey. It's Vietnam. He will be caught and eaten in the city. At least in the rural, he'll be happy for a while.

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 2

Great, came for cute pictures of ducks, had my heart ripped to shreds...

11 years ago | Likes 1623 Dislikes 3

I was really... honestly... expecting this to turn into a recipe post.

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 2

I'm stopping right at the 10th picture mark. Don't want to know what happens next. But dude, it seemed like such a happy story!

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

You made me think the duck dies at the end...way to go

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 1

I remember I cried over having to leave a stone on the street I had kicked all the way home from school. Emotions are weird.

11 years ago | Likes 23 Dislikes 0

Haha awesome :')

11 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Says thesonofhades. Be quiet Niko! (Reference time)

11 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

WHY COULDN'T THEY JUST KEEP IT AS A PET?! WHY DID THEY HAVE TO PUT ME THROUGH THIS EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER!?!??!?!

11 years ago | Likes 185 Dislikes 0

They might have had better luck trying to import opium than importing a duck v.v

11 years ago | Likes 65 Dislikes 0

This. They probably couldn't bring him back to wherever they are from.

11 years ago | Likes 20 Dislikes 0

they could but it literally costs an arm and a leg

11 years ago | Likes 9 Dislikes 0

A duck load amount of money

11 years ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

I want a duck. I got a duck

11 years ago | Likes 88 Dislikes 4

Username checks out

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

my nigga, that was deep

11 years ago | Likes 10 Dislikes 0

I wanna duck so hard

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Hi i'm very lovable and social. Just don't ditch me like some other assholes.

11 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

I love my duck

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I love my duck.

11 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

I left my duck cos I'm a little bitch who is too scared to smuggle it on a plane.

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I love my duck.

11 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 1

I abandoned my duck.. :(

11 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

I love my duck.

11 years ago | Likes 32 Dislikes 0

I *left my duck

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I abandoned duck.

11 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Sadly he probably won't survive in the wild. Domestication doesn't help much. That, and it's Vietnam.

11 years ago | Likes 1156 Dislikes 8

I did not, however, travel with a duck.

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 1

Yeah, at some point "releasing" an animal would better be described as "abandoning" it :/

11 years ago | Likes 314 Dislikes 2

Yea & I think people would be pissed if this were a cat or a dog that they took in and fed and then just abandoned.

11 years ago | Likes 138 Dislikes 4

Well I'm not exactly happy at this moment either!

11 years ago | Likes 28 Dislikes 0

As a Vietnamese and from Hanoi, I seriously suggest people not to 'release' animals there. They will probably end up in some dishes :/.

11 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

He probably paired perfectly with some broccoli raab. Yum.

11 years ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 1

dont you do this

11 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

These guys must be travelling because they didn't do so well in school. That duck has never lived in the wild. It doesn't even know how to

11 years ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 3

get food for itself. It won't last three days.

11 years ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 1

As someone who's traveled like OP he released him in a SUPER popular "lake" in Hanoi. It's a park pond, he'll get fed by passerbys.

11 years ago | Likes 166 Dislikes 1

or people will take him and eat him

11 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 2

He'll probably rather feed some passerby

11 years ago | Likes 28 Dislikes 4

*passersby

11 years ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 2

Thank you. Your statement made me feel a lot better.

11 years ago | Likes 30 Dislikes 0

He'll probably end up at the cafe down the street being fed TO passerby.

11 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 4

Some poor family thanks you greatly for their easy dinner.

11 years ago | Likes 18 Dislikes 1

I was looking for a comment along these lines. +1.

11 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

He ded

11 years ago | Likes 78 Dislikes 3

yap

11 years ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 1

+1 for originality

11 years ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

+1 for irony

11 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Like so ded

11 years ago | Likes 22 Dislikes 0

Like omg ded

11 years ago | Likes 14 Dislikes 0

His drakes and his goslings, are dead

11 years ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Like so ded he can't even

11 years ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 1