Yep, he's pretty wet: But what could have done this to him?Courtesy ShazzMackI can’t decide – are dead ducks funny?

I suppose not. But what if the duck died in a really funny way, like from falling in a volcano? Or what if it meant that human kind has finally beaten the expression, and gotten water to stay on a duck’s back?

Because that’s what has happened.

The water thing, not the volcano thing.

Dead ducks have been turning up at Colorado wastewater treatment plants. What’s remarkable about these dead ducks is that their feathers seem to have lost their waterproofing, something that probably lead to their deaths in the first place. You’d think that finally getting water to stay on ducks’ backs would be a cause for celebration, but, unfortunately, wildlife biologists still aren’t sure of exactly what caused the condition. There doesn’t appear to be anything in the water treatment plants themselves that would have taken off the waterproofing, and scientists have ruled out diseases like avian influenza and botulism as potential causes.

Division of Wildlife officials plan to begin an investigation into the Unsettling Case of the Soggy Ducks sometime this week