Ducks, pond and snapping turtles question

[Lonely Duckling]

Just recently I discovered the hard way that they DO eat ducks. And attack them as well. We had to amputate a toe off a duck about a month ago, and less than half an hour ago I see a suspicious lump in the middle of the pond. I figured out it was one of our ducks, an Indian Runner duck named Misty, and what creeped me out was that something was feeding on her under the water.
It took me a bit, because the water in our pond isn't clear, but then I saw the spiked shells as the snapping turtles yanked at her, trying to drag the body under the surface. She was already dead when we spotted her, but this discovery was shocking. I hadn't even known that they ATE ducks.
Now I'm watching as they drag her around the pond, sometimes pulling her all the way under
It's a whole swarm of turtles too. But now I know. Now YOU know too.
I do accept that this is how turtles are, but I wish I had known this sooner.

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC, so sorry for your loss.

 

[Lil Drake40]

So very sorry. Hope you can get rid of those awful predators

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you so much for sharing this as we have quite a few members with ponds and I always feel like a broken record asking if they know if their pond has snapping turtles before they put them out there or if they ask why won't my ducks go into the pond.

I am so sorry about your lil Runner

 

[Mama2hd]

Hi guys

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice...

My DH and I own some acreage with a very large pond (could be considered a small lake I guess). It's pretty and we love it and are hoping to stock it with some fish and swim in it. I also want some ducks very badly. The problem is that there are some snapping turtles - and at least one of them is huge. I'm afraid if I get ducks and they paddle around in the pond, the snapping turtles will get them. We want to get rid of the turtles, but haven't figured out how to do that yet. I think there are turtle traps, but since we don't live on the property yet, we've not pursued it. I guess my main question is: will snapping turtles eat ducks and their babies? If so, no ducks until we remove the turtles - but how will we know if they're all gone? They are quite illusive.

Thanks for any help with this...

Avrilon

I know this is an old thread but I can say YES. Snapping turtles will even kill an adult fully grown duck. My one year old female ROUEN was brutally killed by a huge snapping turtle in my pond! She was sitting by the edge of the water at 8:40 in the morning & the water exploded and it drowned her! I have it on camera! I didn’t even know I had a snapper in my pond! It was terrible! So yes not only ducklings but a big snapper will take your duck OFF THE BANK WHILE DRINKING WATER! She was a full size Rouen named CJ!

 

[Miss Lydia]

So sorry