Ducks Eat Yellow Jackets??!! Maybe so...

[chickens4me]

Last year my whole backyard was coated in yellow jackets hovering and "terrorizing" everyone, everything, everywhere.

This year I have some pretty buff and cayuga ducks and maybe one or two yellow jacket occasionally. I can even go outside to pick and eat the figs off my fig tree this year without being attacked. I am so thrilled.....I think I like ducks more than chickens now.

Well, OK. I like them both~~just in different ways?

But I really love not being afraid of my backyard again, for sure!

Ducks may be my best insect removal program yet.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
I have seen ducks dig up the yellow jacket nests (they nest in the ground) and not quit until they were all gone. Feathers make good protection but a sting in the mouth can be a problem.

 

[RavenStorm]

Normally I'm in the garden digging in compost, adding mulch, planting new stuff, digging out spent plants, etc. too frequently for any of the burrowing stingers to build a good home out here, but just beyond my wall is a wilderness area that they are at heavan. Depending on the weather pattern of the year we might see tons of them or none at all, and this year we had tons of them.

My DBF and I were outside last month processing some fish we caught (bluefin! yellowfin! yellowtail! albies! yummie ...) and the yellow jackets started to swarm us. It was becoming very difficult to get our catch ready for the fridge/freezer but then our duckies came around the corner to save the day! They had a field day snapping at the bugs, and finally we were able to get our work done without being stung/bitten. I know each duck must have eaten tons of them but they never had an adverse reaction to the bites/stings they must have gotten in their mouths.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Once stung most ducks learn to catch them with the "bean" the hard front part of the bill and crush them there.

 

[Soccer Mom]

My ducks do looooooove them and so do my geese. Just another reason to love waterfowl.

 

[chickens4me]

Quote:
Now, I have to get some geese, too...I really need a farm!