Ok so this is how the story starts; I get off my school bus and notice a duck with a limping leg. I catch it and show it to my grandmother, she said show it that it limps and I put it down on the ground. It limps a couple times before flying into the lake and swimming abdnormaly. I went to the center of the neighborhood to report the limping duck to the people who work there. On the way I notice my duckling (the youngest) which can fly now. I pass by him like everything was normal. All of a sudden I see my duckling flying and ABOVE it was a hawk!! It flew to the lake and dropped down before the hawk could catch it, it was extremely close too. The hawk or I think was a falcon flew to a tree. I screamed at it and it flew to another tree before flying away again. I call for my duck using the words ''Come on'' and it swims towards me after being followed by other ducks. I picked it up and it was shaking really bad with its heart pounding against its chest. I walk for a little bit and put my duck down, only after 5 minutes of it following me, the hawk or falcon showed up again and went really close to me and my duckling. It flew into the trees where I couldn't see it. So how do I contact wildlife saveror or whatever its called that rescues animals in Florida? I need to get that limping leg duck back. Should I bring my duckling in my house before it gets killed unattended by me? My mom is stubborn and refuses to take it inside and she says ''No, no. The duck is big and can defend itself'' when its 30 times smaller than the other ducks and 5 times smaller than the oldest. :*(
If your mom refuses to keep the duck, you may consider contacting a waterfowl rescue group to see if they can take it in. We at the duck forum have explained that a duck raised by people is not very safe on its own outdoors. The hawk is showing you that, too.
So if you were there to rescue "your duck" when the hawk was around, what about all the times when you are not there such as being at school? The hawk is going to look for easy prey and if the ducks are out in the open with nowhere for protection then they won't last long. Sorry, that's just the way of life. As it has been mentioned in previous posts numerous times, if these are your ducks and you want them as a pet then you need to protect them by building them a secure pen area. If you aren't willing to do this then you either need to let them be wild ducks and fend for themselves or send them to a wildlife rescue center or give them away to someone who can care for them. You can't protect wild ducks all the time.
