life is a persistent mofo.

Preface:
I'm not a fan of the bird. I think at one point, yes, maybe, when I was too young to understand their creepiness... but if you know me enough to have ever walked the street with me with birds around, you'd know that it's embarrassing the way I flail around and stop breathing, the way that tears form for fear of them touching or attacking... or even noticing me...

I'll admit it, some are pretty, some are cute. Big Bird in Japan was a favorite film of mine, but no, let's not fool ourselves... they are creepy, too plentiful, too closely related to the velocipraptor, too cliquish, even. I don't trust them. oh god, and the feathers, holy crap, and their feet, and the fact that they fly should scare all of us, we are at a distinct disadvantage.

However, that said, the following story is awesome, almost awesome enough for me to reconsider the fear, (but not enough...)

Duck Shot by Hunter Cheats Death Again
The Associated Press
Sunday, January 28, 2007; 11:24 AM

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Perky is one tough bird.

The ring-neck duck survived being shot and spending two days in a hunter's refrigerator and now she's had a close brush with death on a veterinarian's operating table.

The one-pound female duck stopped breathing Saturday during surgery to repair gunshot damage to one wing, said Noni Beck of the Goose Creek Wildlife Sanctuary.

Veterinarian David Hale revived the bird after several tense moments by performing CPR.

"I started crying, 'She's alive!'" Beck said.

Perky entered the headlines last week after a hunter's wife opened her refrigerator door and the should've-been-dead duck lifted its head and looked at her. The bird had been in the fridge for two days since being shot and presumed killed Jan. 15.

Perky is recovering with a pin installed in the fractured wing, and probably will not have more surgery because of her sensitivity to anesthesia, Hale said.

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Source - I like that her name is Perky.