Years ago there was a cartoon on the telly set on a farm (i think). one of the characters on this show was a duck who was scared of the water and always wore a rubber ring (possibly a snake).
It might be 'Wade' the Duck in Orson's Farm, a spin-off of Garefield
"Wade Duck: Wade is the "cowardly craven duck" of the farm. His good nature is sometimes shadowed by his overwhelming hypochondria and phobia of everything from chocolate doughnuts to finding out that it's Tuesday, and especially flying and rain. Wade is so scared of drowning that he constantly wears a kiddie pool inner tube (which, as a recurring joke, has a head like his on the front that always imitates his facial expression and what direction he's looking to match his own). He can be easily driven into an incoherent raving of fear. Unlike the other characters, Wade's eyebrows float above his head."