We took a little family fishing trip down to the Colorado river in Bastrop today and I found 4 ducklings that someone had obviously dumped at the park. There are a LOT of ducks and geese that hang around the boat ramp area begging for food (most look like random domestic crosses) so I guess somebody assumed they could just toss these poor helpless babies out and they would somehow make it on their own.
There were two big fuzzy pekin ducks and two khaki campbell ducks. They are all still sporting full baby fuzz and peeping, though the pekins are HUGE compared to the khakis. They were staying all together so they were probably dumped that way, plus they had obviously been handled quite a bit because they were really easy to catch. Poor things were probably some idiot parent's idea of a great Easter present for their kids....then they realized that ducklings are messy and decided to get rid of them.
The funny thing was that several people got all indignant as I was carrying them in my car, confronting me and demanding to know why I was 'stealing' wild duck babies.
I had to stop and explain to each of them that these were not wild ducks but were domestic pets that had been dumped off and that they would almost certainly die because they would be unable to find food or would be eaten by a dog or something.
They are now happily splashing around in my bathtub and will soon join the rest of my duck crew which includes 2 khaki campbells, 1 female mallard, and 3 self-blue muscovies. Pics to come soon!
There were two big fuzzy pekin ducks and two khaki campbell ducks. They are all still sporting full baby fuzz and peeping, though the pekins are HUGE compared to the khakis. They were staying all together so they were probably dumped that way, plus they had obviously been handled quite a bit because they were really easy to catch. Poor things were probably some idiot parent's idea of a great Easter present for their kids....then they realized that ducklings are messy and decided to get rid of them.
The funny thing was that several people got all indignant as I was carrying them in my car, confronting me and demanding to know why I was 'stealing' wild duck babies.
I had to stop and explain to each of them that these were not wild ducks but were domestic pets that had been dumped off and that they would almost certainly die because they would be unable to find food or would be eaten by a dog or something.
They are now happily splashing around in my bathtub and will soon join the rest of my duck crew which includes 2 khaki campbells, 1 female mallard, and 3 self-blue muscovies. Pics to come soon!
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