Here's a grisly tale that has haunted me for a long time:

One spring, twenty years ago, we happened to share some acres with a
small flock of mallards. We couldn't help but notice one drake who was
frantically driven to mate. So much so that by summertime, his
protrusible cloaca was literally dragging in the dirt, and to our horror,
it eventually fell off! He was still alive and kicking when we moved a
year later, but no longer possessed. Do ducks have STDs?

Beth McKinnon
bethl at nethost.multnomah.lib.or.us
Estacada, Clackamas County, OR