Best friends come in all shapes and sizes, and when those best friends are animals, the size can get incredibly small. In the world of birds, one species takes the cake for being absolutely adorable: the duck.

But ducks are also as clever as they are cute. They’re smart and emotional creatures. They can comprehend commands, play with toys, give kisses, and beg for snuggles and cuddles! If they’re handled gently and have gotten used to humans from an early age, ducklings can become quite friendly with people.

We collected some of the most precious duck pics you’ll ever see. Some of these cute ducks were randomly found near ponds in their natural habitat, while others became domestic and essential members of their human families. Either way, these little guys will melt your heart with their cuteness overload!

#1 Every Year This Mama Duck Brings Her Babies To My House And I Help Her Take Care Of Them. This Morning I Opened My Door To 13 New Peeping Fluff Balls

Image credits: ivereadthings

#2 Fattest Baby Duck

Image credits: BoaGirl

#3 This Baby Duck Is Sleeping, So People Who Are Also Going To Sleep Good Night And Dream About Ducks

Image credits: Sokkenwaap

#4 Just A Lil Guy

Image credits: SplashJaguarCo

#5 Does Shoulder Duck Make The Cut?

Image credits: LakeOntario1

Ducks as a species are probably one of the most known birds on the planet. Not only because of famous ducks in history, like Donald Duck and Daffy Duck of Disney fame, but also because you can find them in literally any pond on the planet.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, domestic ducks alone had an estimated population of 1.15 billion (no pun intended), 1 billion of which were registered in a number of countries across Asia.

That’s a lot of ducks. And that’s just domesticated ones. Ducks Unlimited, a wetlands and waterfowl conservation organization, estimates that there’s roughly 34 million wild ducks currently quacking about in North America alone.

#6 People Said They Needed More Ducks… Here Are Two Of Mine

Image credits: taykrebs

#7 Some Ducks I Found At A Kia Car Showroom

Image credits: PresumedPack890

#8 Round & Soft

#9 Duck Becomes This Little Boy’s Protector, Following Him Everywhere

Image credits: MrTandBee

#10 Workout Buddy

Image credits: iHachersk

Unfortunately, according to the same report by Ducks Unlimited, wild duck populations have dwindled in the last 3 years, dropping from an estimated 38.9 million to 34.4 million. Heck, it was 41.1 million in 2018.

This is mostly due to changes in their natural habitat. More specifically, it’s the fact that some ponds are drier than others depending on the year and hence breeding numbers fluctuate accordingly. But this is only part of it as hunting seasons are a thing, overall wetland areas continue to shrink, among other factors that impact the ducks’ population numbers.

#11 Fancy Hat

Image credits: you-deserve-the-best-in-life

#12 One Of Our Ducks Rejected This Duckling And It Imprinted On Me Instead. It Tired Itself Out Playing In The Grass Earlier And Stretched Out In My Hand For A Little Nap

Image credits: pickledrabbit

#13 My Friend Found A Lost Baby Duck And Couldn’t Say No To Adopting This Face

Image credits: roux93

#14 My Ducks, Mango And Django, Refuse To Sit Elsewhere

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#15 Best Friends Come In All Sizes!

Image credits: loulouminidachshund

But while the overall numbers are still looking very good, don’t let your guard down as there are waterfowl species that are very much endangered.

The Brazilian Merganser is estimated to have a population of fewer than 250 specimens of its kind, the Orinoco goose is considered near threatened as a species, and the Madagascar pochard has less than 50 members left on the planet.

And this is besides initiatives like the Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary, which is all about rescuing abused and neglected farmed animals, including ducks. Even though the species they deal with aren’t necessarily going extinct, it’s still important to spread awareness of the need for conservation when it comes to ducks and the fight for duck and just animal rights in general.

#16 Fluffy Headrest

Image credits: Pam Ishiguro

#17 Last Night My Wife’s Uber Had A Duck In It

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#18 5-Year-Old Girl Has A Duck Best Friend Who Follows Her Everywhere And Thinks She’s His Mom

Image credits: Ashley Brown

#19 Pocket Duck

#20 Comfort In Shade

Keep scrolling to see more adorable duck photos because we all need a cute duck in our lives, but your cute animal journey doesn’t need to end here because we have other cute animal articles lined up already: here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Or, if you want to take the next big step in making sure cute animals stay a thing on our lovely planet, why not consider donating to organizations like the Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary! Or express your solidarity in the comment section below.

#21 Swimming Season

#22 My Borb And Her Borbettes

Image credits: Tellurye

#23 He Just Got A New Paddling Pool

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#24 Dory My Drake, Being Lazy & Cute

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#25 Biblically Accurate Angel

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#26 I Made A Tophat For My Pet Duck

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#27 A Friend For Life

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#28 A Sun Hat For A Fluffy Duck

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#29 Curious Chaser

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#30 Fresh Haircut

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#31 Snuggle Duck

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#32 Getting Dry

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#33 Invasion Of Privacy

#34 A Duckling In A Sock

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#35 This Looks Like Some Satanic Duck Ritual

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#36 Fred And His Nine Ducklings

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#37 Soft Ducky, Warm Ducky, Little Ball Of Fluff, Go Ahead And Sleep Ducky

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#38 Prince Toby Has Always Loved The Ducks

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#39 Our Last Baby From Our First Batch Of 2021 Ducklings. We Have Called Him Percy

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#40 Yay, Spa Day!

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#41 Handful Of Fluff

#42 More Ducks You Say?

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#43 This Is My Duck. Her Name Is Chicken

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#44 This Duck Passing By Its Own Sign

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#45 Sunbathing

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#46 Happy Easter, Y’all

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#47 New Member Of The Family

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#48 Unexpected Baby Duck Inside My Garden

This summer, thirteen little baby ducks were trapped inside my garden. Momma Duck was desperately shouting from my rooftop. Where they came from: no idea! Probably out of some eggs, but I couldn’t find out where the nest was hidden. I decided to grab the babies, put them in a crate and release them at the lake at the end of the street, where it has always been flooded with ducks. Don’t worry, mom was around the place the whole time, quacking loudly to reassure her children. I think. The first scary moments, all the poor little things gathered around, peeping and squeaking like hairy bath ducks. Catching ducklings is a great workout, those things are unbelievably fast and maneuverable dude. As soon as I spotted Mother Duck, I released the ducklings and they quickly joined her.

Image credits: Pizzaforeternity

#49 Our Pal, Charlie

Image credits: Jdoiron

#50 Duck Norris And Quackie Chan Want To Let You Know That Breakfast Is The Most Important Meal Of The Day

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#51 Petunia The Rescue Duck Admires Herself!

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#52 Cute Duck

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#53 My Ducks Being Cute

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#54 Having A Relaxing Bath

#55 Sweet Rescue Baby. Still Not Named! Wing Is Healed Now

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#56 Yesterday In The Park We Had Visitors. Or Were We Visiting Them?

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#57 Rescued This Angry Bean From The Highway. No Mom In Sight. She’s Now Safely With A Local Waterfowl Rescue!

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#58 I Was Told You Guys Would Love The Orphaned Duckling I Rescued

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#59 A Watchful Eye Keep The Ducks Safe

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#60 My New Babies Meeting My Older Babies

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#61 Say Hello To Piplup (Pip For Short), Our Sweet New One Day Old Little Call Duck

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#62 So This Cute Little Dog We Call Skippy Comes To My Dad’s House Every Day For Treats. Today He Brought His Duck Friend, Henry

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#63 This Is Don, He Fights Bears

Three attacks on the coop, 8 chickens eaten. Each time Don has defended his mate, Kathy, and survived somehow. He may not be a cute baby but he’s a hero

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#64 Just Spotted A Duck Mom With Her Little Babies Walking Through The City!

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#65 Here’s A Picture Of A Baby Duck To Make You Feel Better

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#66 Baby Duck Walking On Lily Pads

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#67 Step Up

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#68 Very Hungry Ducky

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#69 Hey Buddy

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#70 This Is My Favorite Picture I Have On My Phone!

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#71 Look At This Beautiful Boy

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#72 Testing Out Portrait Mode On My New iPhone

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#73 Yes Billy Those Are Your Feet

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#74 Release The Quacken!

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#75 Out For A Walk In The Forest

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#76 Born Tuesday 2/22/22. I Think I Have To Name Him 2

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#77 Quack

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#78 The Cuteness Is Too Much!

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#79 Me Ducks

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#80 If This Doesn’t Make You Smile You Are Dead Inside

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#81 How To Transport Your Ducky

#82 Tweety And Waddles

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#83 We Got Ducks! Any Tips For Raising Pekin Ducks As Pets?

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#84 6 Day Old Jumbo Pekin Can’t Handle Belly Rubs

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#85 Look At My Ducks

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#86 Shower Time

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#87 Ready For A Snuggle After Having A Bath

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#88 I Could Have Posted A Million Photos To Celebrate This Big Boys One Year Birthday

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#89 No, No Relation To Bees, Dear. It’s Ok, Everyone Asks

#90 Baby Ducks In The Lake

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#91 Had A Duck Nesting Under Our Window For About 2 Months Now. The Babies Finally Hatched!

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#92 A Duck At My Local Bank

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#93 Are Cute Baby Ducks Allowed?

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#94 Mama Duck And Baby Duck

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#95 What’d You Do Today? Not Much, Just Saved Some Baby Ducks

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#96 A Mama Mallard Built Her Nest Behind Our Rosemary. We’ve Been On Baby Duck Watch For A Week And The Little Guys Hatched Today!

We think she has 8 or 9 based on our peek outside when mama went to find dinner. (No we didn’t get this close; we used the camera zoom.)

Image credits: Merkela22

#97 A Man With Two Dogs In His Pockets, Walking A Duck Wearing Shoes

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#98 Getting A Post Surgery Checkup

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#99 One Of My Old Ducks. Her Favorite Treats Were Fresh Fish

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#100 Waaaa!

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#101 Fred, But A Newer Photo

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#102 Sibling Hug!

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#103 Food, Now!!!

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#104 My Fancy Lady

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#105 It’s Pictures Like These Why I Love Posting On The Internet!

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#106 First Outside Time For Nacho And Taco

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#107 Baby Archie Who Ended Up Being An Annie

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#108 So Photogenic. I Can’t Help Myself

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#109 Bath Time!

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#110 Sebastian The Duck

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#111 Yo!

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#112 Heard You Guys Liked Adorable Ducks

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#113 One Of Miss Ducky’s Babies

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#114 Do Baby Ducks Tickle Your Fancy?

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#115 I Just Want To Put These Pretty Flowies On Your Head, Hold Still!

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#116 I Am Not Fat! This Is Just A Bad Angle

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#117 Bowie Relaxing Less Than 10 Minutes After He Lectured Me Last Night For Not Being A Good Mother And Tucking Him In. This Is The Face Of A Spoiled Baby

Image credits: bowie_the_duck

#118 Cor Says Good Morning

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#119 Baby Bowie

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#120 Our First Ever Experience With Ducks Was Our Beautiful Girl, Joe

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#121 Throwback To When My Babies Were Just Babies

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#122 Met A Friendly Duck This Morning

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#123 Have You Ever Had A Duck Stare Up At You Like This

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#124 Ready

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#125 Moments Before Disaster!

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#126 Duck Yoga

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#127 Van And Lisa

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#128 The Only Thing He Needs Is A Tiny Umbrella

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#129 2 Days Old To A Week

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#130 Meet Custard! The One Day Old Muscovy!

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#131 They Will Never Be Tough Fluffs, Tried To Leave Them To Adventure For Themselves And They Freaked Out And Ran Back To Me

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#132 Took My Ducks On Their Second Adventure Today

The last adventure they went on was to a big pond. They hated it. We’ve since found a friends pond we are able to use to give them a good day out, hooray!

Image credits: upsettispaghetti

#133 This Little Ham Loves Her Some Romaine Lettuce!

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#134 Growing Up So Fast

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#135 So This Is Candy. She Is Super Cute And So Friendly

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#136 I Befriended A Pair Of Ducks A Few Months Back. I Wake Up To Nuggets

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#137 Stormy Was Not Thrilled About The Arrival Of Our Girls Back In August

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#138 Quack Out Loud

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#139 Shopping

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#140 “Hey Mom! We’re Having Fun!”

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#141 Fresh Out Of The Water!

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#142 Hello Everyone, This Is Carl!

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#143 My Little Flock Is All Grown Up. I Think They Still Love Me Tho!

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#144 The Boys Came To Visit Me This Morning!

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#145 I Demand Food!

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#146 Itchy

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#147 There’s Always One That Likes To Pose

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#148 This Is Handy

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#149 Rate My Ducks

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#150 I Tried To Get Some Pics Of My Ducks With My Christmas Tree. They Didn’t Want To Leave The House After

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#151 Whatta Ya Mean “I Talk Too Much”?

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#152 What’s Up?

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#153 Guess Who Found Some Muddy Puddles Today

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#154 The Three Personalities Captured. The Talker, The Watcher, And The Eater!

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#155 Huey Was Getting Very Impatient Waiting For His Girl To Come Back. So He Decided To Yell

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#156 Hey There Pogo

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#157

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#158 Summer

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#159 POV: You’re Kissing Billy

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#160 When Taking Photos Of Ducks, The Angle Is Very Important Haha!

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#161 Our Lulu When She Was A Few Weeks Old

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#162 Give Me Attention!!!

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#163 Billy’s 4th Birthday!

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#164 Billy The Tablet Duck

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#165 This Guy Was So Ducking Excited About My Cake Crumbs

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#166 Good Morning Friends

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#167 Being This Cute Is Exhausting

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#168 Mom Told Me I Couldn’t Play In The Mud Anymore… Can You Believe That?

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#169 She Is Such A Little Beaut

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#170 Oh My God. Just Such A Beauty I Can’t Cope

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#171 This Duck That Laid Its Eggs In A Planter At My Work

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#172 I Love Ducks. Just Trickle Some Water In Their Pool And They’re Deliriously Happy

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#173 This Guy Turned 2 Today!

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#174 My Weird Looking Dogs

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#175 My Beautiful Duckies

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#176 Look At These Cute Ducks!

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Source: boredpanda.com