Four years ago, my life was touched by the presence of a haunting ghoul- the evil duck at the Duck Ponds on the campus of the University of Wollongong. This behemoth creature was no ordinary mallard. He had creepy red eyes, breathed fire, and was amazingly foul tempered. Rest assured, he terrorized every student, staff, or visitor that set foot upon that lawn. Those in possession of food were at particular risk. He could steal wedges with the agility of a fox and the curmudgeon-ness of a grandpa alligator (and he had the jaw strength to match).


Not too long ago, a tragedy occurred. Someone brought a dog to campus, and the sweet terror was destroyed in what must have been an epic battle. I am not the only person who was shocked and devastated by this news from across the Pacific. No, this crazy duck impacted hundreds of students who mourned for him.


Thousands of past UOW students have reminisced about the hilariously scary encounters that they had with this endearing duck. He had many different names- I believe he was known as “Fat Bastard” during my time there. I was reminded of these happy and terrifying times when UOW ran a story on him. It melted my heart to see that this evil being will be appreciated and remembered forever with a statue on the lawn that he haunted. Just another example of when things go right in the world.
The Illawara Mercury wrote about him too!