Meet the duck that grew up in a second year apartment – and became a UVA celebrity

Plenty of UVA students get pets when they live off-Grounds. On any given trip to Mad Bowl you are guaranteed to see at least two puppies.

But not many can match second year Scott Carpenter – whose epic tale of rearing a duckling with his roommates will be the most inspiring thing you read this weekend.

It began this summer, while Scott was back home in Maryland, searching for apartment furniture at his local flea market.

“I went to get some speakers for the apartment, and next to the speaker guy there was this Amish dude selling ducklings – and they were super cute,” he told The Tab.

The Aerospace Engineering major immediately made his way over to buy one of the yellow fluff-balls for three dollars.

When he got home, Scott took to his roommates’ group message, expecting praise for his purchase – but not everyone was as hip to a pet duck as he was.

Another roommate Frank Wakeham was a huge supporter of the idea. “I was pumped, I thought it was a great idea. I needed a replacement for my dog at home”.

Josh Thomas, their final roommate, voiced strong opposition. “I was really pissed off and I thought he was joking. I thought ‘No fucking way.’” Realizing he was outvoted 4-1 by his fellow roommates, Josh conceded.

Upon arriving at school and getting moved into their cramped 5-person apartment, the crew decided it was time to name the little guy.

Chase said: “I got really excited about the name.” There were a few suggestions—Arnold, Cornelius, Plymouth Cervesa, and Quackmire were all in the running—but the winner was Goose. Ironic, yes, but also a reference to the apartment’s favorite movie, Top Gun – a classic in an apartment full of aspiring Navy and Marine Corps pilots.

Then came block party. Customarily the guys had some friends over, but what started as a small get together turned into strangers clamoring to get pictures with Goose. Living in an apartment, Scott and the guys became a real life version of Joey and Chandler from Friends. Company, especially girls, loved it.

Scott said: “He was a Snapchat and social media hit among our friends. People would text us and ask ‘Is that your duck?’” This carried on from weekend to weekend.

“You could just work ‘Hey, we have a duck in our apartment’ into the conversation and [girls] would want to come meet him,” said Josh.

Three weeks into school, Goose was growing at a crazy rate. His adult feathers began coming in and he was eating more and more.

“Upkeep was more than we expected,” Scott told The Tab. “I had to build him a bigger pen from scratch and clean it pretty often.”

The guys discovered that ducks are pretty messy eaters and drinkers. “[Ducks] don’t have a sphincter muscle so they can’t exactly control when they ‘go’. It was still really cool owning him but I felt more responsible for him.”

“I would look at him when I got home from class and think ‘This damn duck is making our place smell horrible’” said Josh. Chase agreed.

“I only really took care of him for 4 days, because then I was over him,” said Chase.

Even Frank was beginning to side with Josh and Chase. “The goose generated an astounding amount of fecal matter – it was starting to get out of hand.”

The entire apartment began to feel that the “cuteness to poop ratio just keep decreasing”.

After looking over the options, Scott settled on a petting zoo in Charlottesville. Emotionally attached to Goose and still reluctant to give him up, the guys wanted to give Goose a proper sendoff. What better way than to streak the Lawn.

“Streaking with the duck, a lot of people were watching that probably loved it. I held him like a football, ran around the statue on the South Lawn, made him kiss the butt and ran back. Not many people can say they’ve streaked with a duck,” said Scott.

On the following, fateful morning the guys said their final goodbyes to the little duck Goose that touched the lives of so many.

“Giving him up was tough because I got really attached to the little guy. He gave our apartment some personality,” said Frank.

“It was sad but it was actually a huge relief,” said Scott. He personally delivered Goose to the petting zoo just a short drive away.

But Goose did not go on forgotten. The guys plan to visit Goose periodically. “We converted the cage into a coffee table and are in the process of painting it in a way that commemorates Goose.”

“I would recommend knowing someone with a duck so you could visit it. It’s like being a grandparent versus being a parent, or being a lazy uncle to the duck. If you own actual property for the duck to run around, go for it,” said Scott.

Scott and his apartment will forever be able to say they did something totally outrageous and out of the ordinary. TJ wanted students to leave UVA with experiences. While it might not be what he meant, raising a duck in your apartment certainly counts.