I got a kick out of your cartoon.
I have my own version of that.
Years ago I was flying a customer home from a sales trip. He lived in an area known for its lakes...TVA area in east TN.
It was about 11:00 PM but a beautiful dark night.
We were pretty close to his home airport descending through as I recall 6,500 when we heard a loud bang behind the cabin.
I looked over my shoulder at the fellow sitting behind me thinking to ask him if he had dropped something on the floor but he beat me to it and said “It wasn’t me”.
So knowing the habits of ducks and geese, I said that it must have been a duck.
The fellow sitting beside me, a great friend and customer but always tried to keep me on the defensive said “How do you know it was a duck”?.
To which I replied:
“Well if it isn’t a duck, we sure are f**ked up.”
Silence from there to the ramp.
A quick look with the flashlight....blood on the vertical stabilizer.