Killer Ducks
So yesterday as we were adding more vinyl siding to the shed (I swear, I’m going to start my own home improvement show), my almost two-year-old daughter was playing and started screaming. A female duck had flown into the backyard, scaring my kid half to death. Now, what’s so scary about a duck? It might be that the duck is about the same size as my munchkin, and she didn’t exactly want to be a duck snack.
We tried to chase the duck away, but the female would NOT leave. 
Uh oh. Yep, you guessed it. She was a Mama Duck. We learned that she had built a nest under a boxwood in our backyard garden. Two eggs were found, upon initial investigation.
Dilemma time. On one hand, we’re talking baby ducklings. On the other, we have two small children who love to run around and play in the yard. Ducks or not, it’s quite possible that they would be aggressive toward our kids. And geez, it’s not as if the ducks don’t have an entire freaking pond behind our fenced yard!
So, we decided it was time for the Duck Relocation Project. We’ve given her orders to move the nest elsewhere. After removing the rest of the leaves from the garden, we discovered not 2, but 11 eggs! 
We took the leaves and duck feathers and relocated them to a protected area behind our fence and close to the pond. Using gardening gloves, we moved the eggs over to the new nest. The male duck was watching us and happily swimming in the pond. We threw breadcrumbs to him, and made a breadcrumb trail back to the nest. Hopefully he’ll realize what we did. The female duck wasn’t that intelligent. She kept flying back to the empty nest, staring at it as if to say–”I know I left those eggs here! They must be here somewhere!” Then she shot us hate-filled duck glances.:angry:
I tried throwing bread to her, to lead her to the new nest and she finally wandered outside the gate, following the trail. We’ll see if they do all right in their new location.
Some folks might not agree with the decision to move the nest, but honestly, the ducks were scaring my kids. They have a right to their backyard, so in a contest between ducks and children, the children win. I was going to post a picture of the duck nest, but since the time change it’s still dark outside and I didn’t get a chance yesterday.
Hope they survive all right. I’d rather not be known as Duck Butcher, as well as Fish Butcher. But at least the kids won’t be scared to play in their own backyards anymore.
How about you? Ever had any uninvited critters take up residence in your yard?
Michelle posted in Writing @ 6:39 am | Viewed 1773 times
beth Says:
I have no stories about relocating critters, BUT I think you did the right thing. As one who bears a scar on her, um, posterior, from a goose bite when I was doing nothing but walking through a park (not trying to feed the goose or anything, it must’ve had a nest nearby but I didn’t know that). Anyway, if ducks are as mean as geese are (which I don’t know), you did the right thing. Cause those birds may not have teeth, but they can pull a chunk of flesh out of you faster than you can say “Help the goose is biting me.”
To this day I think those creatures are evil.
Crystal* Says:
We can’t have ducks because the idiot dog chases them off the pond. And we can’t be friendly to turtles for the same reason. (I had to rescue one yesterday from the dog’s jaws.)
On the other hand…’possums are not welcome here. Armadillos. And I’m hoping Chance will step up and make sure we’re snakefree, too.
I like ducks. But certain types are flat sadistic. We had mallards, which I loved. And then we got some muscovy (sic?). I would have relocated them to duck purgatory if I could.
Grins*
Bonnie Ferguson Says:
I don’t have any stories about relocating animals :confused2: I suspect the Mother duck will find her way to the eggs if she hasn’t already
Peggy Says:
I would have moved them as well, Michelle. Mama ducks can get pretty violent when protecting their babies. Hate to see your dd traumatized over ducks for the rest of her life.
Robyn Says:
You did the right thing. Our decision wasn’t as hard- we had a colony of tiny black mice that tried to set up housekeeping in our organ. I can tell you one thing: MOUSETRAPS. NASTY.
Stacy Says:
I think you did the right thing. You took care of your children but you also treated hers with respect and kept their interests at heart by giving them another safe place. Kudos!:thumbsup:
Michelle Styles Says:
Hmm. By moving the eggs, the ducks will probably end up abandoning those eggs. Make sure you check in a few weeks time as you could end up with rotten eggs…It is early in the season and they will probably nest again. Hopefully in a better spot.
In my experience (8 years of looking after ducks) ducks tend to sit very quietly as not to attract the attention of a fox…They also tend to hatch their ducklings in one place and then move them after they are hatched.
Michelle Says:
Michelle S.–that’s what I’m afraid of. I’m hoping there’s a chance that she’ll come back, but I don’t know. I do intend to keep an eye on the nest for the very reason you mentioned. We’ll see what happens!
Robyn–Ick. I hate mice! One got into my grandma’s car once (it had wandered into some recyclables) and I just about died to see it scurrying around on the car floor.
Crystal–yes, some ducks are good; others, not so good!
Rene Says:
Ducks are a little smarter than green beans, but not much. They are also dirty and noisy, don’t blame you for moving them.
Right now I have tons and tons of lizards which scare the toddler. Nothing like a ferocious half-inch reptile to scare a 3 year old. I have bunnies in the yard, not happy about that. I had rats, but they seemed to have disappeared. I think I have a gray fox living in the yard somewhere. A coyote hangs around my neighbors yard. In the spring I get all kinds of birds. My roof is a sparrow condo complex.
Melissa Says:
We found a nest of baby birds at one point - they’d been blown out of the tree and the mama had abandoned them. Unfortunately, they didn’t make it through the night.
I think you did the right thing by moving them - birds can be dangerous and you don’t want your little ones in harm’s way!
kacey Says:
raccoons. Yuck. And they get nasty if they think they’re cornered. That’s our wild yard animal. Oh, and some really sick looking coyotes…
LauraP Says:
Living out here in the boonies, the question is what don’t we have to relocate or at least discourage?
April Alsup Says:
We had ducks in our pool once when I was a kid. Yup! Woke up one morning and two pairs were happily swimming around in circles. We figure they flew over from a pond a mile or so away. Our dog took care of it though. She was none too happy about having guests in the pool!:sword:
Danica Says:
Oh I hope the ducks don’t get abandoned! I probably would have moved them too. Or maybe called animal control-the wildlife ones to see what they recommend. Or hysterically called my FIL, who would have been clear headed and sensible about the whole thing.
MaryF Says:
No joke - my father attributes a duck to my fear of birds. Apparently she chased me when we lived on a farm in OK, and she was as big as I was. I’m not scared of ducks, per se, but beaks and claws, oh yeah.
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