The Tao of the Duck

[natterjack]

Where they come from - The mallards (the most numerous by far) fly in and/or reproduce on the ponds, they are very common in the wild - any sizable body of water will have a pair or two on, at least some of the time. The Canadas (the next biggest problem - the only other real problem) migrate within the UK but breed on the ponds. They are an introduced species - the population is increasing and has done quite a lot over the last 30 or so years. I'm not sure when they were originally introduced.

[natterjack]

Sorry - Too trigger happy - I missed 1-4

1 Virtually all of them are quite capable of leaving if they want to. There is a resident population, supplemented by a few (don't know the proportions) who arrive/leave each day as far as I know.
2 The swans come and go (they're only on the larger ponds mostly). They spend a lot of time (and breed) on the river.
3 Yup - introduced for hunting here too.
4. Rats are ubiquitous over here - it is often said that you are never more than 10 yards from a rat. They are usually only seen near available sources of food or around the sewerage system, and then mostly only at night.

[barn owl 72]

We can't blame everthing on the ducks here. I don't know what the problem is in England but here we been haveing a problem with ducks in the the city and its out lying area with ducks taking over ponds and chasing off people, doing what ducks do. However I beleive that the main reason this is happening is because we are taking out a lot of wet lands where they would normally go. now you got a population of ducks and a lot of ponds mainly to hold run off water from our develoments and a few are to smart for their feathers (sorry Lee, I just had to say that ) and begin to to what there instints would normally tell them not to do and begin to move in to urban areas. In recent decades, at least in america quite a few species of birds and animals have been trying to adapt to living in cithies and suburbs and a few have suceeded. In the case of the ducks, they no doubt have found that their are very few preitors that they have to worry about. Especially since my distant cousin, the great horned owl will not come near the city, In fact my spieces is running into trouble because we can't adapt to the changes of man.and what did we ever do to them? We ate the mice that were eating his crops, and we didn't poisen anything.

[LeeP]

Ah...owl,
Haven't you yet seen the truth? Humans are ungrateful creatures. They think they can survive alone, without us. Most of them are just too stupid to understand that we all depend on each other.

Now, toad, for your duck problem.
First, the side issues. You can, over time, considerably reduce the Canada goose population by shaking the eggs. This can be done subtlely, against the body where bird lovers can't see. You could be simply counting them, and there's no evidence left that you've done anything to them.
If you don't want Her Majesty's swans at a pond, all you have to do is to make sure they don't have room to take off (in flight). This can be easily done with a small island in the middle of the pond or by filling in one end.
I don't know what to tell you to do about the rats since we don't have the problem here. You definitely need a rat abatement program of some kind. I assume you're doing something about the problem.
I hope these suggestions might give you some ideas. They've worked elsewhere.
Now to the ducks. What would I do? First, I'd acknowledge that this is a huge problem (actually a whole bunch of problems), and that it wouldn't be solved all at once or overnight. It must be made better one small step at a time. Then I'd do whatever I could to get the bird lovers firmly on my side. They might come in very useful later, and at least they won't be fighting us at every step. This is going take some serious outside of the box thinking.
You do realize that the mallards, for whatever reason, have changed their natural behavior, don't you? For some reason, they are being forced to do what they're doing. It is not their preference, I assume.

Oops...I'm late...more tonight.


Lee

[LeeP]

Now, toad, to continue...
Please understand that I know that you won't do these things. I will not be insulted. They sound very strange on first reading, but, I promise, they do work. At least they have here.
First go to a farmer who raises ducks and get 3 or 4 mature (over 1 year old) domestic ducks that can't fly. I recommend pekins and white cresteds. They have lovely personalities and like people. Get 1 male and 2 or 3 females OR all males OR all females. Any other grouping leads to disaster. These are your resident pond mascots. You must be able to tell them apart. Give them names. Hold a contest if you like to get the public involved, but it must be rigged a little. The names can't be too cutesy. They must communicate at least a little respect.

Back ASAP


Lee

[LeeP]

To continue...
Oh I almost forgot. Pekins and white cresteds have almost totally lost the ability to reproduce independent of humans so there are no duckling or overpopulation problems.
At the same time you attempt to convince the mallards to revert to their natural human-shy behavior. Go around to all non-public-access and private ponds and wetlands and make sure they are well stocked with duckweed and at least one pair of mallard decoys.
Back at the public pond, designate and mark off (with a stone border, perhaps) a feeding area on the bank. Set up an attractive, unobtrusive stall to sell inexpensive duck food. On the stall display a lovely poster with a picture of your cutest mascot and the title, "Keviston says..."
Below this list recommendations for proper duck feeding from the duck's point of view.
1. Please feed me in the feeding area on the ground. This way you can get a better look at me, and I won't get sick from water spoiled by old food.
2. If you want to bring me food from home, please bring chopped grapes, oranges, carrots or lettuce OR graham or whole wheat crackers OR unsweetened nutritious cereals. These foods are good for me. White bread is not.
3. ...you get the idea.
This is a fun way to educate people. It's positive, and the public associates the rules with a real duck, their own local "pet". Also, most of the mallards should be reluctant to come to the feeding area so near people and will thus be encouraged to go elsewhere. The posters could be reproduced in small handouts, and positive "Keviston says" articles can be written for local newspapers.
These strategies work because people still get to feed ducks (which they are going to do anyway). The duckfeeding is controlled and better for the ducks, and the wild ducks are encouraged to go back to the wild. It's a win-win situation all around even though it may not be the ideal one you want (which can only be accomplished by magic as far as I can tell). The beauty of all this is that if you play your cards right and convince the bird lovers that you are champions of all things ducky, they'll do most of the work. You may even be able to get a retired person to rake up and compost leftover food every evening.

I hope I haven't forgotten anything and that some of this gives you some ideas.


Lee

[barn owl 72]

Well put Lee, I have to admit I have given bread to ducks before. (I am an owl, i didn't know better, and it was whole wheat) Thanks for setting me straight on that.

[LeeP]

Hi owl,
Whole wheat bread is much, much better than white so you definitely get points for that.
But the most important question is-did you put it in the water or on the ground?


Lee
PS I'm beginning to like you, owl. Maybe Armageddon is approaching.

[natterjack]

Well Lee,

I can only say thanks for all that. I've passed the shaking suggestion on to my colleagues, and they were definitely interested - it's not one that they had encountered before.

As far as the mallard suggestions go though, there may be problems. I've not had the chance to pass it along yet, but I'm fairly sure that in at least some (and the worst) of the ponds some of the resident mallards will take bread etc straight from your hand. I've certainly know them to in town ponds elsewhere. I'll pass the ideas along all the same and see how they are received.

Either way it's certainly worth a karma boost

[LeeP]

Hi friend toad,
I told you that "outside of the box" thinking was needed here. First, I want to make sure you got it all. My mascot strategy post of necessity came in alot of pieces. The plan begins right after your last post on page 1 of this thread.
Your mallards have changed their natural behavior. I have acknowledged this from the beginning. Something has caused this, and it has puzzled me since you brought up your problem. It has to be a survival adaptation. It's NOT just a situation of food availability. Normally mallards will accept a handout now and then, but they are not mooches and usually do not become dependent as yours have. In fact, I've never seen it before except in cases of severe drought as a last resort. The minute things improve, off they go. Any ideas?
All you can do is encourage them to return to their normal human-shy behavior (if nothing else at least in the next generation). You have 2 subtle factors going for you using the mascot strategy.
1. Your domestic ducks will be much larger than the mallards, and they will never leave. In the duck world the ownership of the pond will default to them. This doesn't involve any rudeness or aggression. It is simply the way ducks think. Any mallards who are still tentative at all will search for another home (part of your job to make sure there's another place for them to go).
2. Even the tamest mallards are usually reluctant to breed where there are humans. They'll be even less likely to do it when the mascots own the pond. If they leave to breed, perhaps they'll be reminded of their natural behavior and not return.
With all of the factors in play, you should be able to eventually reduce mallard populations at local ponds by a fair proportion. Eventually perhaps they can be almost eliminated. Ideally most of the mallards should just be visitors and not residents.


Lee
PS What could it hurt to try it on a pond or two? Just remember it won't fix things overnight...and it's not fair to try it out on the worst ponds. They will take much longer to fix.