Ducks and a pond with a snapping turtle?!

[Free Feather]

Killing the turtle is not going to do a bit of good. Your pond is good habitat for a snapping turtle, so when that big one leaves, it will just make it easier for a new one to move in. Besides the fact that just is senseless and unfair.

 

[DucksAndGardens]

Not quite fair to just let the ducks be killed by the snapper either. An alternative would be to relocate the snapping turtle and then put up a small fence that can deter other turtles from moving in but either way the turtle can't stay if the ducks are to be safe.

 

[Amykins]

It's not senseless at all, if I were in that situation I'd do whatever it took to protect my ducks. If you leave that snapper in there, he WILL kill them, I can almost guarantee it! Someone made the suggestion of calling Fish & Wildlife, there's a chance they'll relocate the big galoot so he won't have to be killed. But if they won't, well, it's his pond, his property. As long as he kills the turtle as quickly and painlessly as possible then I don't fault the OP whatsoever.

Besides, someone stated that snapper can taste delicious if you put in the effort of processing them. Nothing wasted, nothing lost!

 

[Shroppy]

The problem with relocation around here is that you have to have permission from a pond's owner to relocate. No-one wants a monster snapper on their property! Pets are also at risk Folks around are mostly small farmers and have no compunction in doing away with "varmints".

They are supposed to be very good eating if you keep them in a fresh water bath/tank for a while, and I WOULD rather see a turtle go to feed a family than simply be shot and left to rot. I have a contact for the local "turtle man" who is happy to come and catch it if we don't have luck with the trap.

In the meantime, duckies have been confined to their protected run.. about 1000 sq ft adjoining their 300 square foot pen with pond.. with me heaving in armfuls of fresh weeds from tackling the raspberry and tsrawberry beds so life isn't TOO hard for them right now

 

[DucksAndGardens]

I've relocated snappers into creeks before. They aren't privately owned and generally they have a better chance of not getting hit by a car because they can search out new territory. So that's an option if you want to relocate the snapper. Fish and Wildlife will rarely relocate a common snapper because they aren't really protected. Now an Alligator snapper is another thing. They generally will come and get those. You also can't catch it and sell it online because that's against the law as well so sometimes you have to make the hard choice and kill a snapper. It's not the best solution and I'm generally a live and let live but when it comes to a predator that you can't keep from killing your animals then sometimes the solution means one has to go.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Almost every year I lost a duck to a snapping turtle.THEY ALMOST ALWAYS GO FOR EM

 

[Willowmina]

If the snapper doesn't kill them, at the very least they lose their feet.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

they may not eevn lose their feet.My ducks have been attacked several times and still remain both feet and some do not even have scars or nothing wrong with it.

 

[ohmylilly]

I recently got 6 Indian runner ducks. I have been letting them swim in the bathtub and they absolutely love the water. however, when they get older, i want to take them out to a pond that is behind my house. it is a small pond about 3/4 of an acre, but has at least one big snapping turtle in it. i fish the pond regularly in the summer and can see his big shell moving through the water all the time. will he hurt my ducks? i have a kayak too and was thinking i could go out with them and paddle around with them. there is also a beaver ive seen swimming around in there too. i don't think he'll be a problem, but the snapper?

I just had my beautiful Swedish black full grown male duck attacked by a snapping turtle. He was being pulled under until my husband jumped in the pond and got the turtle to release poor duck. Now he has a lame leg and his bottom is pretty chewed up. We are nursing him but may have to put him down. So yes, snapping turtles kill full grown ducks. I would not allow my ducks in the pond again until it is turtle free, if that is even possible.

 

[ohmylilly]

VIDEO - TURTLE DROWNS DUCK! PLEASE keep your ducks away from the pond until you trap and kill any snappers. Three days ago we had our 23 ducks using our acre of pond. I was cooking and heard the Guinea Fowl and a Red-Winged Blackbird alarming like crazy so ran out. Hubby was working down by the pond, burning debris in the firepit so never heard anything. I counted the ducks and there were only 22. The Khakis ALWAYS swim in a group so I scanned the pond and found the victim. Not a mark on her. Not even a loose feather. She was still warm so this had JUST happened. She was only a year old.

We autopsied her and every organ was perfect. There was not even a bruise on her. The lungs, however, were pale and oedematous from waterlogging so she HAD drowned. My immediate suspicion was a turtle. We had a big one here two years ago, before we had the ducks.

In this video, the turtle grabs the duck by the beak and pulls her head underwater.. later, after she is dead, he starts to eat her. The fact that I spotted her just after she drowned.. and the turtle probably spotted ME meant that we were able to ascertain probable cause of death rather than find we had a duck -or two- missing by day's end.

What really gets me is that DNR will tell you that snappers are not a threat to domestic stock except for duckings and goslings.. WRONG!

Right now, we have a turtle trap set with the duck's entrails and we will kill any turtle we catch and then reset the trap for the season.

All the ducks and chickens are kept securely housed overnight, and we are always on the watch for daytime predators. No losses in almost two years, but this caught us totally unaware.

VIDEO ON FLICKR -

https://flic.kr/p/6NxMvp

I’m interested in how you are trapping the turtles. We have a gazillion turtles and would love to get that number down