Ducks and Alligators.....

[enola]

There is a gator in a pond at a local golf course, here in South Carolina. I have never seen it, but one of my friends has. He says it is not a small one either. I guess they will have to do something about it when golfers start disappearing.

 

[MrsPlopPlop]

@JadeComputerGal

Yes I thought this would be the case. I was looking at enclosures that would include a nice pond before we even got a good look at the house. My husband and I are super handy so they should have a great home! ah well. Looks like I'll just be feeding them the goodies from the pond myself!

 

[needlessjunk]

@JadeComputerGal

Yes I thought this would be the case. I was looking at enclosures that would include a nice pond before we even got a good look at the house. My husband and I are super handy so they should have a great home! ah well. Looks like I'll just be feeding them the goodies from the pond myself!

You will end up with some super friendly ducks with all that hand feeding

 

[JadeComputerGal]

There is a gator in a pond at a local golf course, here in South Carolina. I have never seen it, but one of my friends has. He says it is not a small one either. I guess they will have to do something about it when golfers start disappearing.

That sounds like an incredible liability. The problem with removing the darn things is that they, or one like them, often come back. I'm thinking it was free for my uncle to have them removed from his swimming pool, but it's still a pain in the butt to go out for a swim and find an alligator in your pool or on your pool chair until fish & wildlife comes to collect him. You can't shoo them away, either. They just look at you like, "Really?" and go back to lounging in the sun.

 

[NatureChica]

@enola
The one we saw wasn't small either! I couldn't believe it. I grabbed the kids and ran away and then turned back to process what I saw and the jerk was eating the bird we were watching pecking the ground. An egret I think.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

@JadeComputerGal

Yes I thought this would be the case. I was looking at enclosures that would include a nice pond before we even got a good look at the house. My husband and I are super handy so they should have a great home!

ah well. Looks like I'll just be feeding them the goodies from the pond myself!

I wish I had a pond with duckweed. I've been starting some in containers so I could start taking off scoops to put in the duck ponds, but I don't think we're going to have enough before winter to do it.

I was thinking about your situation after my last post, wondering what I would do. Can you ask the neighbors how to have alligators removed in that area? If it's free or low-cost, I'd do it regardless of ducks. Afterward, you could try to attract wild ducks for the pond. There are many ways to attract them, and they might hang around part of the time if you get rid of the worst predators. Wild ducks have a much better chance in those circumstances because they have the survival instincts, plus they fly well. Ducks that can lift themselves directly out of the water would fare better on a pond like that than the breeds of ducks you've ordered that can't fly.

 

[quackingdom]

Gators can climb fences, too...and even trees. I've heard of a gator that climbed a tree and later nearly fell on a man standing underneath. It'll be hard to keep an alligator out with fences. And even if you hire someone to take them away, more will come back. Our drake actually scared and/or hurt a gator, and we haven't seen that one since, but other gators took its place a few months later.

My ducks are free-range, and the 2- or 3-foot gators that frequent our pond never mess with them. The ducks messed with the pond a couple times, but they only got in once while a gator was in it. Our male was slightly injured, and the whole flock saw the fight, so they've learned their lesson now. They've stayed clear of the pond for months now. We did have one death earlier on.

Gators can run 30 mph on land, but the ducks shouldn't have too much trouble outrunning them because ducks can dodge and run in twists and turns. Gators can't.

If I were you, I think I'd fence the ducks in so they can't get to the lake, but give them a new pond and enough space to outrun a gator that might possible break in.

Our gators have never bothered to go the several hundred feet to where the ducks are. Perhaps this is because the ducks are right by our house, and we have a dog. I would recommend putting the ducks close to the house and putting them in a secure coop for the night, just in case.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Gators can climb fences, too...and even trees. I've heard of a gator that climbed a tree and later nearly fell on a man standing underneath. It'll be hard to keep an alligator out with fences. And even if you hire someone to take them away, more will come back. Our drake actually scared and/or hurt a gator, and we haven't seen that one since, but other gators took its place a few months later.

My ducks are free-range, and the 2- or 3-foot gators that frequent our pond never mess with them. The ducks messed with the pond a couple times, but they only got in once while a gator was in it. Our male was slightly injured, and the whole flock saw the fight, so they've learned their lesson now. They've stayed clear of the pond for months now. We did have one death earlier on.

Gators can run 30 mph on land, but the ducks shouldn't have too much trouble outrunning them because ducks can dodge and run in twists and turns. Gators can't.

If I were you, I think I'd fence the ducks in so they can't get to the lake, but give them a new pond and enough space to outrun a gator that might possible break in.

Our gators have never bothered to go the several hundred feet to where the ducks are. Perhaps this is because the ducks are right by our house, and we have a dog. I would recommend putting the ducks close to the house and putting them in a secure coop for the night, just in case.

I don't believe a duck could out run a gator, I was born in raised in Florida and I never heard of anything short of a grey hound dog out running a gator.

 

[quackingdom]

I don't believe a duck could out run a gator, I was born in raised in Florida and I never heard of anything short of a grey hound dog out running a gator.

Oh ok, I just heard that they can't run while turning, and ducks and certainly run while turning. I heard the best way to escape a gator is to zigzag or run in circles or something, anything but straight, and ducks are good at not running straight. My ducks, anyway. Maybe it doesn't apply to all gators or all ducks.

 

[NatureChica]

Wildlife on pbs and discovery channel has shown me I am totally 100% screwed in a situation where I'm trying to escape a gator on the charge. The big ones of course. A little guy might bite me but I'm still alive.
Gators love hunting from water but they will go onshore too and they see small animals as tasty little appetizers so they will give chase. It would be funny to watch if we didn't love our birds more than we love chocolate chip cookies....
We really take these forums too seriously sometimes.