Ducklings stolen from momma

[Ol Grey Mare]

You are "stuck between a rock and a hard place". If your neighbor does not want to file charges, there is nothing the "authorities" can do.

Agreed - while the situation is frustrating and "wrong" in the view of those reading it and living through it, legally it is another issue. If nothing else, perhaps this can be the catalyst for you to speak with the HOA, etc and establish some ground rules regarding the ducks, etc - it may even be possible to have verbiage added to the HOA regulations that addresses the bothering of wildlife, etc. Does it fix this situation, no, but it can help to give you better standing to prevent such situations from taking place in the future.

 

[Lugh]

Hi all--

I am a keeper of muscovies and a board member of my community HOA, though I am in Florida, but I'm sure the same rules likely apply. The lake is considered HOA property, which means that if she grabbed the ducklings from common property, she is technically not trespassing since HOA land is for the use of the entire community. Muscovies, except for populations in South Texas, are considered feral and a nuisance, which means they can be taken and culled at will so long as they are treated humanely. There is no theft involved here unless those birds actually belonged to someone, which they likely didn't.

Bottom line is that you don't know what this woman is doing with the ducklings, and the time to get anyone to do anything about it would have been when she was actually taking the ducklings. The best way to respond to aggression is with aggression, and you should have called the cops immediately and said that a woman was being cruel to an animal. The woman was likely banking on the fact that you would back down if she got aggressive, which is exactly what happened. Most police officers would have insisted that the woman release the ducklings back to their mother at the time of the incident, but now that so much time has passed, nothing can really be done. There have been several instances here in Florida where people have been arrested on animal cruelty charges for bothering nesting mothers, but those charges have happened when the police were called immediately after the incident.

I wouldn't waste too much of your time on this. The mother duck will have plenty of other ducklings and I'm sure the others were killed by predators rather than stolen in the middle of the night. In a climate like Nevada, that momma will have more ducklings in three or four months.Your best bet to prevent this from happening again would be to call the HOA and have them send a violation letter to the woman, telling her not to interfere with the wildlife on HOA property. That's what I'd do, at least.

-Lugh

 

[18angovem]

Quote:
It might be a state law but I know there is a law at least in PA the law states that if a pet is in danger that a citizen is allowed to trespass and even break property to save the animal, but you are only supposed to do that in an emergency. They have problems here that people do that and break into cars to get the dog out and then just take the dog. But the problem with that is that you don't know how long the dog has been in the car.

 

[sweetcaroline]

Yes
I tried to get my neighbor to report her trespassing and that she threatened her as well but my neighbor had health issues and does not want to fight it. So that leaves me to try everything I can to get the ducklings back. I think it might be to late they could have all died by now. What is this law?

...

Hi all--

I am a keeper of muscovies and a board member of my community HOA, though I am in Florida, but I'm sure the same rules likely apply. The lake is considered HOA property, which means that if she grabbed the ducklings from common property, she is technically not trespassing since HOA land is for the use of the entire community. Muscovies, except for populations in South Texas, are considered feral and a nuisance, which means they can be taken and culled at will so long as they are treated humanely. There is no theft involved here unless those birds actually belonged to someone, which they likely didn't.

Bottom line is that you don't know what this woman is doing with the ducklings, and the time to get anyone to do anything about it would have been when she was actually taking the ducklings. The best way to respond to aggression is with aggression, and you should have called the cops immediately and said that a woman was being cruel to an animal. The woman was likely banking on the fact that you would back down if she got aggressive, which is exactly what happened. Most police officers would have insisted that the woman release the ducklings back to their mother at the time of the incident, but now that so much time has passed, nothing can really be done. There have been several instances here in Florida where people have been arrested on animal cruelty charges for bothering nesting mothers, but those charges have happened when the police were called immediately after the incident.

I wouldn't waste too much of your time on this. The mother duck will have plenty of other ducklings and I'm sure the others were killed by predators rather than stolen in the middle of the night. In a climate like Nevada, that momma will have more ducklings in three or four months.Your best bet to prevent this from happening again would be to call the HOA and have them send a violation letter to the woman, telling her not to interfere with the wildlife on HOA property. That's what I'd do, at least.

-Lugh
[/quote

Thank you for your insight.
I agree that my neighbor should have called the cops immediately but instead she called me, I called 311 within 15 minutes after she took them, the police said that it was an animal control issue, so I called them, they said its a HOA issue, so I called them, they said it was the dept of wildlife issue so I called them, everyone said they could not help. I at least felt this was animal cruelty and someone should do something because taking babies from their mother is cruel and inhumane regardless what breed of duck they are. And, these ducks were not on common ground, they were in my neighbors yard.
I realize this momma will have more ducklings but she should still be raising the ones that were taken from her. I will contact the HOA and ask them to at least send her a letter but unfortunately they usually turn a blind eye when it comes to our waterfowl.
Thanks again for advice

 

[sweetcaroline]

Agreed - while the situation is frustrating and "wrong" in the view of those reading it and living through it, legally it is another issue.  If nothing else, perhaps this can be the catalyst for you to speak with the HOA, etc and establish some ground rules regarding the ducks, etc - it may even be possible to have verbiage added to the HOA regulations that addresses the bothering of wildlife, etc.  Does it fix this situation, no, but it can help to give you better standing to prevent such situations from taking place in the future.

Yes I know I'm at loose ends here
I have tried to get someone to step in but I'm now feeling defeated.
I like your suggestion about ground rules here in this community, so I will contact my Hoa now to set up a meeting with the property manager. Thank you for great advice

 

[Lugh]

Yep, talk to the HOA. I'm sure in your community, like in mine, the people who live around the lakes enjoy the ducks, which is likely why they were put there in the first place. They enliven a community and usually are a selling point for those whose properties abut the water. All of my neighbors enjoy the ducks around the lake and regularly feed them and watch them, so I'm sure if you speak to the property manager OR go to a board meeting they will be more than happy to address your concerns.

In my community, it is well known that most of the ducks are mine, and that the wrath of God will be brought down on those who feed them bread!

 

[sweetcaroline]

Update
Confronted duckling Kidnapper
She was hostile
Said she returned the ducklings that night after she put vitamin drops in their eyes
We told her she should never have taken them from their mother, she became hostile said get off my property
We left but now what??

 

[Lugh]

Nothing-- there is truly nothing you can do. At least at this point she knows that people are watching her, so she might not try it again. You should talk to a member of your HOA or go to a board meeting to discuss people disturbing the wildlife. If you bring it up in a very calm, rational manner (it's difficult to be calm about such an outrage!), I think everyone on the board will agree that homeowners should not be bothering mother ducks and their ducklings.

If you see her do it again, call the police immediately and say that a woman is being cruel to an animal. They are also violating the Federal Migratory Bird Act.
http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/NewReportsPublications/FactSheets/Muscovy Fact Sheet 3-31-2010.pdf