Distinguished Duck
JEFFERSON TWP — Gertrude is a star. The social influencer's unique look has gotten her picture on the covers of magazines and newspapers from Taiwan to the United Kingdom.
Manufacturers send her free samples of their products in hopes of landing Gertrude's endorsement. She has a talent agency sorting through the offers coming her way.
She's got a pool and a gaggle of bodyguards to keep away the riffraff.
Of course, Gertrude is also a 4-year-old crested duck, her pool is a pond in the backyard of her owner Holly Mead's house, and her bodyguards are Sebastopol geese, whose honking is good for scaring off the occasional prowling raccoon. Still, Mead, a freelance photographer, said she's fielding inquiries to have Gertrude endorse products, including a poultry heater and a bedding line.
Mead said she's hired a news agency, Jam Press, to go through offers.
So how does an otherwise ordinary duck go from everyday Butler County fowl to a feathered diva whose face has graced the pages of Marie Claire Taiwan?According to Mead, it all started with another duck named Pip.
Her parents, Ernie and Bobbie Taylor, got Pip as an Easter present.“He decided to be a house duck,” said Mead, and Pip and her father hit it off. Pip liked to be sociable and sit in people's laps.“She just acted like a dog,” Mead said.“My dad fell in love with it. He was always telling people about that duck and showing pictures of that duck,” said Mead, who credits Pip with helping her 81-year-old father recover from a health crisis.So, when Pip died from natural causes in 2020, Mead saw the need for a replacement therapy duck.She had purchased Gertrude at the Butler Rural King store in 2017 as a companion for Pip.“Gertrude, she's very quirky,” Mead said. “She knows her name and will answer to it. She loves treats. She likes to be held. She's very personable.”That's not unusual, said Phillip Clauer, associate teaching professor of poultry science at the Penn State Department of Agricultural Sciences.“Water fowl imprint on humans,” Clauer said. “If she raised the duck, she imprinted the bird on herself as her best, personal fan.”Clauer said a purebred crested duck grows to a weight of six to eight pounds.“They were bred as an ornamental type of bird,” he said. “They weren't bred to any specific industry use.”
As Gertrude grew, the crest of feathers atop her head swelled to magnificent proportions.“Her crest is very, very large,” Mead said. “People said I've put a wig on her. But that's actually her.”When Mead put a picture of Gertrude, taken in Mead's car Jan. 21, on her social media pages (Pip My Pet Duck and Friends on Facebook and #mypetducks on Instagram), Gertrude's likeness went viral.Mead said Gertrude got viewed four million times on Facebook and Instagram.The Daily Star, a British tabloid newspaper, put Gertrude's picture on its front page as an illustration to a story comparing Gertrude's hairdo to the late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's.On March 3, the Taiwanese edition of the fashion magazine Marie Claire “used that picture with a story about her being a fashion statement,” Mead said.She didn't get any money for either use of Gertrude's picture, but both publications asked to use it.And with fame came opportunities to cash in on it.Mead said a maker of poultry heaters sent a heater, a cage maker sent a poultry cage and a manufacturer that uses only feathers in its products sent her a bedding set. All wanted to use Gertrude in their advertising or on their products.“All the companies want her to endorse them,” Mead said. “It's just fun.”
Still, she's picked Jam Press, a news agency, to deal with endorsement opportunities.“I'm not looking to make money,” Mead said. “As long as she's spreading happiness, I'd rather be doing that.”Mead takes Gertrude on visits to Concordia and the UPMC Cancer Institute in Wexford.Gertrude, with proper care, is likely to be around to make many more personal appearances, according to Clauer.“A domestically raised and properly fed crested duck can live six to eight years easily, and it could be up to 10 years,” he said.Gertrude shares her living space with other rescue birds — eight other ducks, nine call ducks and eight Sebastopol geese.Mead says the flightless geese keep Gertrude and the other ducks safe from predators.
