By Anna Fry

Parsons Sun

It’s said politics makes strange bedfellows, but apparently politics isn’t the only thing.

Mary Friess of Parsons said her husband, Kurt, went out to their backyard one morning and found their pet duck and pet pygmy goat sleeping together.

They’re man and wife or something, Friess said. They’re best friends.

Friess said the duck, Gilly, joined the family at Easter when one of her three children got it in an Easter basket.

The goat, Pepper, joined the family about the same time. The Friesses wanted a cat, but Gage, age 6, is allergic. The bosom buddies were originally kept separately, Friess said. Pepper stayed in the house and was bottle-fed and diapered.

As Pepper the goat is female (while the duck¹s gender is unknown) got older, the Friess family moved her to a pen behind the house, where Gilly had been living. Gilly and Pepper were kept separated in the pen by chicken wire.

I never thought about a goat and a duck getting along so we kept them separately, Friess said. Two months ago, the family discovered trampled chicken wire and saw that the pets were cohabitating.

Pepper and Gilly first met when the Friesses wanted to get Gilly acclimated to water by putting the duck into the backyard pond. The duck rushed back to shore and started spending time with the goat, which grazes next to the pond.

Friess said both the duck and the goat are confused.

The goat thinks he’s a duck, she said. The duck will not leave the goat. The duck will not even eat corn anymore. It eats goat food.

The family acquired a second duck in the hope that Gilly would learn how to be a duck, Friess said.

We were really hoping he’d teach the duck how to be a duck ... but no deal, she said.