Are otters a threat to ducks in a lake?

[chickengeorgeto]

An otter is an aquatic predator and ducks are an aquatic prey species, that is all I know except that an otter will kill and eat a muskrat if given half the chance. If the gators return to your lake the otters may find that they have important business elsewhere, but so may your ducks. I know that isn't much help, or the kind of answer that you wanted, but everyone else has already given you very good advise.

 

[Bert2368]

Yup!

Otters are members of the Mustelidae. The family of species includes everything from weasels to wolverines- and EVERY member is willing to have a chicken or duck for dinner.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustelidae

 

[REDNECK TRAPPER]

Otters will kill ducks. Better trap them

 

[nazzlow]

Otters will kill and tear apart anything they can catch. We have a pair of otters in our pond, and they have been killing the ducks lately. The male is probably close to 40 pounds, and the female is a bit smaller. They are not afraid of me, and will charge into the yard if the ducks are near the pond bank. I also found otter tracks in the snow all around the chicken coop, but they can't get in there.

 

[almostalwayshome]

I know this is an old thread, but the topic is of immediate interest to me since I lost both my geese over the past three days. in Both cases, the geese were in a fenced pen. I lost the first one at about 10:30 pm from my lower meadow- three feet from the swamp. The other was attacked in the upper pen, 300 ft away from the swamp, also around 10:30 pm. Since it was closer to the house, we were able to scare it off. the goose was clearly injured, but I couldn't catch her to see how bad. I was able to get her into an old hutch. early this morning I went to check on her and found that her back had been badly torn. her whole spinal column was visible and I could see her heart beating. I had to put her down.
I know that it is the otter because of the tracks at the first kill, and we've been seeing the otter and her 5 pups in the swamp. I had no idea they were such ruthless predators. Last summer I lost 5 hens in three days to otters, but who knew they could kill geese?? My hens now live in their fort knox pen all the time. I only wish I had something similar for geese.

 

[LazyFarmers]

I have a family of otters in my lake, which is well stocked with fish. They actually follow the ducks under the water and grab them by the neck when they stop and do a barrel roll with them. They have taken out one of my pekins and one of my muskovi ducks. They ate them alive . No more lake for my ducks till I get rid of those otters!

 

[Delray Dave]

Yes, definitely otters will hurt, mame, and even kill your ducks. I was just told by a family that lives on a lake in Florida that they have seen them tear up just about anything. Keep the ducks clear of the otters...mean dudes!

Just witnessed an otter kill a duckling Muscovy last night and suspect an otter killed another duckling Muscovy two days prior and six mottled ducklings (and maimed a mottled adult) a week before. The otters are extremely aggressive and came out of the pond to our patio to try to kill more wild ducklings today that were gathered in our side yard. No fear of humans and the otters wander in the backyard where the pond is, the side yards and the front yards in our subdivision. Saw some of their fish kills with a single chunk taken from the fish and 80% left untouched. They seem to kill for sport, not just food. Four otters stayed in our pond all day today and would have killed all the ducklings had the mother not abandoned our pond and took her twelve remaining ducklings off to another location.