Rivalry takes ugly turn as duck painted orange

ALBANY, Ore. – The day the Oregon Ducks beat the Oregon State Beavers in the annual Civil War football game, a male mallard was found in Albany, spray-painted Beavers orange with its legs duct-taped together.

The duck, found Thursday, survived, but its feathers no longer shed water. If set free, it couldn’t swim.

“Insane,” said Jeff Picton, executive director of the nonprofit Chintimini Wildlife Center, where the bird will spend the winter.

The wildlife rehabilitation center found it couldn’t get the paint off.

“Anything we put on there would be more toxic than the paint,” Picton said.

The only alternative is to keep the duck through the winter until it molts and develops a new coat.

Albany police took the animal to Chintimini after it was found near Linn-Benton Community College.

The center is near Corvallis, home of the Beavers.

Picton said he would consult with an animal control officer to see if anything could be learned about the perpetrator.

“I hope somebody knows something,” Picton said.