Posted in: Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: Comics, dc, dc comics, Drake, duck, tim drake, young justice

How Dangerous Are Male Ducks Anyway? (Young Justice #8 Spoilers)

In this week's Young Justice #8, it looks like Tim Drake is getting a superhero name change. He has been Robin, he has been Red  Robin, he has been Robin again. And now? Drake. Named after the most dangerous bird, according to his Earth-3 counterpart, something Tim Drake thinks is really good, and Bart Allen backs that up. And Brian Bendis had previously announced that he would be getting a new codename in this issue – and one that would stick.

Bleeding Cool poured a little scorn on the description of 'drake' as one of the most dangerous birds, when it's just the name of a male duck. And we wondered if maybe Bendis had mixed things up and no one called him on it. When compared to things like eagles, buzzards, kites and cassowaries.

But were we too fast to pour scorn? Turns out male ducks, drakes, can be unequivocally evil bastards.

The male duck has a penis-shaped like a corkscrew, and when erect, is a quarter the length of their body. Most bird species don't even have penises, but ducks do. Sharp, and containing backwards-pointing spikes, specifically made to stab into the female duck and dig into the female duck's vagina with sharp grappling hook-like barbs to prevent escape. Mating is definitely not consensual, and it is common for three to six male ducks to chase and violently rape one female. It is also common for male ducks to deliberately drown female ducks during this, so they put up less resistance. They will also be bitten and have eyes gouged out. Is Tim sure that Drake is the codename he wants to take on?

And that's just duck-on-duck crime. Duck droppings can carry diseases such as E.coli and Salmonella and those who handle their ducks will, as a matter of course, contract salmonella infections every year.  They can also carry up to 60 different diseases, including histoplasmosis that can be fatal. And they get everywhere. Might Tim Drake develop a similar offensive strategy?

Ducks also sleep with one eye open, can focus blood flow away from extremities so they can swim in icy water and stand on ice. And every now and then, after unusual weather patterns, they can go collectively insane and suddenly migrate en masse.

So maybe a little more to deal with that we previously thought. Violent rapist murdering drakes, that you can't get the drop on.  Either way, definitely better than Red Robin.

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