Looks like "Caveman Club" gourd to me.

Google for Gourd Identification Chart and you will find pics or drawings to help identify gourds.

Cheers - Rita in Michigan

Helen, It is a penguin gourd. They make nice bird houses for wrens. Gene

Looks to me like a short-handled dipper that is crossed with a penguin. Is that the only gourd on your vine?
Did you plant the seed? And, do you know what you might have planted?

I actually prefer to work with gourds of unknown origin. They are far more interesting to work on.

Jan

Hi gourd friends
Thanks for taking the time to answer. Actually, the answer to all of your
questions is "no". Here is my story..
I spotted some gourds last year growing in a Zone 4 garden( Quebec, Canada) .
The gardener had built a pergola and had it covered with gourds. They hung down
inside the structure. It was a stunning !
My intention is to replicate this next summer, but first, I have to try to
figure out which gourd he was growing. It seems to me that the skin was very
light coloured, perhaps a creamy white or yellow.
I may have taken a picture...can't seem to find it on my hard drive but that
sure would speed up indentification, wouldn't it!
If any of you have any inspired ides, I would be forever grateful.I am in Zone 6.

Helen

Aha Helen - too bad you don't have the address - perhaps you can find that house again the next time you go to Quebec (needle in a haystack trip!) - perhaps the guy will giv eyou some seeds - or better yet - some of the dry gourds.

My kids built me a pergola for Mother's Day this year - I tried to grow some short handle dippers - put in 10 plants - the rotten deer ate all but two - and two are the most pitiful things you ever saw. They did grow to reach the top of the pergola, went along about 3 feet, had a few flowers and that is the end of that! They are just sitting there looking sad - no gourds! Tomorrow I will be planting several clematis vines on the pergola and I will give my gourd seedlings to a friend who has tons of sunshine and 40 acres!

Let us know about that gourd when you figure it out!
(sure looked like a caveman club to me!)

Rita in Michigan

I went over to Gene's page and checked out his link to photos. You MUST go over there and see his gourd patch. The "friends" album is great - I like the Gutter Cat best! - but oh my - the wood burning is astounding. I thought I was about a 2 out of 10 on wood burning (just beginning) and then I saw what Gene has done - holy smoke - it is a 200 out of 10! Just incredible.

I did see the gourds grown in 2005 and 2006 - and that gourd sure does look like Gene's penguins - I never saw one with a straight stem before - just a curved top - but then again I am just a neophite.

Congrats on all the great work Gene. Magnificent gourding!
Rita in Michigan (with the wood burning envy attack)

Hi Rita,
My gosh. Thanks so much for your kind comments. You made my day (week,month,year). Most of my penguins are grown on a trellis, thus the straight neck. If they grow on the ground, they get the curved neck which makes them look like a penguin. I grow mine straight because its easier to make bird houses out of them. Thanks again for the kind comments and good luck with your gourding and woodburning. You'll find they are both highly addictive. Gene