SCP-55

Item #: SCP-55

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-55 is to be kept in the Department of Biological Sciences storage freezer, which is to have its temperature maintained at -80 °C at all times. Personnel are reminded that accidental exposure to 0 °C requires a minimum of five minutes to return to baseline human body temperature.

SCP-55 must be handled with extreme caution, particularly during feeding and preparation. A full explanation of SCP-55's anomalous effects is available in the Addendum below.

Description: SCP-55 is the dried body of a female mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos). The SCP has been aged to a remarkably high degree of biological maturity. An examination of the specimen shows no indications of disease or trauma; however, there are instances of infection in the digestive tract and reproductive organs. The brain has also been impacted by unknown degenerative pathology.

During feeding and preparation, SCP-55 exhibits the effects of a mild addiction to the narcotics used in its domestication. However, this is not necessarily due to direct consumption itself; rather, it is consistent with a need for opioid stimulation during periods of extended fasting and chronic stress.

Doses administered to test subjects have proven safe; however, it is important that all personnel are aware that exposure to excessive amounts of opioids at any time can cause death.

Addendum:

The following is an excerpt from Dr. R████'s biological report on SCP-55.

There is some evidence that the brain of SCP-55 was affected by degenerative pathology, consistent with what we might expect to find in a specimen of this age. It is unclear whether or not this is due to the effects of starvation (as has been observed in other specimens of the species) or whether or not the animal was administered any sort of neurotoxins or other detrimental agents while under human care.

It is worth noting, however, that the symptoms exhibited by SCP-55 do not appear to be related to any known human pathology, nor do they appear to have been induced by human caretakers.