Crocodile Duck Dee LbNA #29158

Stamp: Hand-carved
Distance: Easy, flat walk

Being a feisty, Ruddy Duck, Crocodile Duck-Dee came by her name honestly. Earlier in her life, some strange-looking, bi-pedal creatures had rescued her. They forced her to do her swimming in a bright red tub. What made this situation especially annoying was that her designated swim time was mid-afternoon and she was a nocturnal duck by nature. This made her very grumpy and she didn’t like to be handled. So whenever the strange bi-pedals touched her, she hissed and spit and tried to bite them. Although she was completely ineffectual as a biter, one of the strange bi-pedals named her Crocodile Duck-Dee. The name stuck.

Then unexpectedly one Friday, a wonderful thing happened to her. She was released in a beautiful place in Tucson. It was a sweet-water wetlands area lush with cattails, saltbushes, and bull rushes. She really enjoyed the surrounding ponds and their islands since the bi-pedals who came to stare at birds could not reach her. She soon discovered that she was one of the most aquatic members of the duck family and, like a grebe, would sink slowly out of sight while swimming in the ponds. Crocodile Duck-Dee would also soon find out that while she could consume large number of midge larvae during the breeding season, she much preferred pondweed and the seeds of other aquatic plants.

Even entertainment was provided for her in the antics of a male Ruddy duck trying to catch her attention. First, he changed his normally drab feathers to his mating-season plumage. A dark cap, a bright blue bill and a chestnut body made up his outfit. Then the show began with an elaborate display. The male duck would swim by her several times with his tail raised in a fan. He would then slap his bill against his chest producing a drumming sound and creating bubbles from beneath his chest. Crocodile Duck-Dee knew this display was more for territory declaration than anything else and she paddled away, seemingly unimpressed.

Shortly after her release into the wetlands, another wonderful thing happened to her. She made a friend! Rizzo was a packrat and his name, like hers, was symbolic of an encounter with the strange bi-pedal creatures. Crocodile Duck-Dee learned that Rizzo had once lived with a very nice bi-pedal named Sherry. He enjoyed his time with Sherry, who had discovered him in her driveway when he was only a few days old. Bi-pedals being humorous creatures, he was named Ratzo Rizzo after a movie character in Midnight Cowboy. Rizzo loved to line his midden with anything he could get his teeth on. Contrary to other packrat’s predilection for shiny objects, he hoarded things like pens and pencils, bird feathers, rubber stamps, and was especially fond of pumice. While Sherry greatly enjoyed Rizzo’s companionship, she made the tough decision to release Rizzo back into his natural environment. Luckily, for Crocodile Duck-Dee, it was the same place where her bi-pedals had released her.

Crocodile Duck-Dee and Rizzo became fast friends and chatted just about everyday at dusk in a place that was convenient for both of them. The box is planted at Crocodile Duck-Dee and Rizzo’s favorite place to chat. To find their place, go to the east side of a bench where you can see a red and white radio tower at 0* and the three skyscrapers downtown at 150*. From here, walk back towards shore and turn left on the path. Walk past the picture of the Ruddy duck on the left. A short distance down the path you will see two green circles on the ground to the right. Behind them is a tree with a purple pole to the south of it. Look on the south side of the tree under a rock to find the box.

Since both Crocodile Duck-Dee and Rizzo are nocturnal and quite shy, feel free to find the letterbox during the day.