Another duck?
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| Jan Gosling creator of Pawa duck, with the egg found recently beside ëPawaí. |
There is some excitement in Waipawa at the discovery of an egg laid by Pawa the duck.
The egg was found early Wednesday morning lying in the garden not far from Pawa’s stand in High Street.
The strange looking green rough-cast object with red spots was not immediately identified as an egg, but since the discovery experts have confirmed it to be an egg.
X-rays and scans of the egg have confirmed that the egg does indeed contain a developing chick but details as to when it will hatch are unknown, due to lack of experience in such species.
Pawa is the only two metre high concrete duck known to exist in New Zealand so studies on incubation rates and chick development are nonexistent.
Another factor that may influence the chick’s development are genetic make-up of the father, and since the father is unknown it poses many more unanswered questions.
The egg is thought to presently be somewhere between one and two weeks old, but why it has slipped out from under its mother is another mystery.
Since it is impossible to unbolt and lift Pawa up to slip the egg back under, the egg is going to be looked after by the retailers of Waipawa. This is made possible because of the unusual composition of the eggshell which after initial investigation appears to be concrete.
This substance gives the property of, as well as being strong enough to survive the impact of a high fall, it generates its own heat just a concrete does when it is curing.
This means the egg will be able to incubate without the aid of an incubator or mother, so will be more visible to the public in the shop windows of Waipawa.
In the meantime the creator of Waipawa’s giant duck, Jan Gosling, is excited and intrigued to find out what is inside the egg.
She says this development is quite unexpected, but at the same time she could see why Pawa might attract suitors, because she is a pretty eye-catching duck