Mallard Nest Rescue Project

[casportpony]

More info here:
https://www.fws.gov/cno/conservation/MigratoryBirds/BirdNests-final.pdf

 

[chickens really]

Here in Alberta it's illegal to have or mess with any migratory Birds..Best solution is contact a Wildlife rehab in your area and voice your concerns..Do not try raising wild Birds...

 

[iluvsedward]

but people are already illegally messing with them... it's easy to say hey dont do it from the other end but when I'm there and my coworkers are joking about eating the eggs they found on some guy's boat its a little hard to say "welp nothing I can do it's against the law"

 

[iluvsedward]

I suppose I could contact a wildlife rehab but it's unbelievably frustrating that we dont even have a wildlife rehab in the county so simply to get help for an injured animal you find is impossible around here

 

[JedJackson]

OK here's the dealio.
I work at a Marina docking and fueling boats during the warmer months. At this marina there are a plentiful supply of mallards and boats. Mallards like to make nests on boats. Boat owners would like to use their boats, and can be careless when it comes to nature. This is a very common occurance. In the past, I rescued a clutch of nine eggs from a charter fishing boat that had no interest in letting momma sit on his boat for a month, of the nine, eight hatched. Now, no one really knows I hatch eggs and I've heard of some of my coworkers talking about eating the eggs and other awful things. However this year I'm wondering if I should put myself out there (maybe a flyer advertising egg removal?) to help rescue some of those eggs that would otherwise be tossed in the water, abandoned, or what have you. Here's the issue, at what point would be a good age to release the young ducks back into the marina so they could learn to forage with the other ducks but still be old enough to survive without a momma? Do mallards migrate south from the Chesapeake Bay in the winter? am I better off selling the ducklings ? I just want to give these babies a life that I know for certain would otherwise die without some intervention.

eta: I could raise them in a very hands-off way so they wouldn't be tame, if that's an issue.

If these ducks are nesting on boats in salt water I would guess they are not wild Mallards anyway but domestic derivatives of Mallards who have lost the instinct and ability to fly to fresh water to nest.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

This is just a thought but maybe you could contact your local wildlife department and explain the situation to them and ask them for permission to remove the eggs and then hand them over to a wildlife rehabilitation? Just my 2 cents.

 

[chickens really]

but people are already illegally messing with them... it's easy to say hey dont do it from the other end but when I'm there and my coworkers are joking about eating the eggs they found on some guy's boat its a little hard to say "welp nothing I can do it's against the law"

There is something you can do...Contact a local wildlife rehab...The charges are generally extreme...

 

[chickens really]

I suppose I could contact a wildlife rehab but it's unbelievably frustrating that we dont even have a wildlife rehab in the county so simply to get help for an injured animal you find is impossible around here

There has to be...Must be one that patrols a large area..

 

[casportpony]

If these ducks are nesting on boats in salt water I would guess they are not wild Mallards anyway but domestic derivatives of Mallards who have lost the instinct and ability to fly to fresh water to nest.

I'd be willing to bet that they are Mallards.

 

[iluvsedward]

This is just a thought but maybe you could contact your local wildlife department and explain the situation to them and ask them for permission to remove the eggs and then hand them over to a wildlife rehabilitation? Just my 2 cents.

Thanks I guess I will try that. It's just frustrating because it would be so easy for me to help the same way (or similar to the way) that a rehab would, but the rehab centers are all about an hour away and usually there's not a lot of time for safe procedures, many boaters could care less and its the difference between tossing them in the water or handing them to me. I guess if that happens I could then call the center, it just usually isnt that simple.