Mass duck killing scheduled for Ocala, FL park

[cawooduck]

Well, im going to take the stance on culling the entire flock. I dont know the size of the lake they are on, but 300 ducks can mass produce, and quarters can become close, and if disease hits, its a very poor sight to behold. Ever seen the mass effects of botulism? I seen it at a refuge i was duck hunting at, its not a pretty sight at all. As for adopting the captured ducks out to people, that would be alright in my mid, but who knows what they might introduce to your flock of prescious birds.

Processing the healty ducks and giving them to a homeless shelter would be good as well, but who is going to pay for the processing, and the testing? And like what was said before, the sick and injured are out of the question.

We have a local golf course pond that people drop their "easter" ducklings off at when they grow up, its rather disgusting, crap everywhere, inbreeding galore, and dead ducks all over the roadway. The goose flock there started with two, then those two had babies, and their babies inbred and had babies of their own, now there is a flock of about 20 geese and some of them are on nests again, more inbreeding, more problem.

Sometimes action has to be taken to reduce or irradicate a nuisance population, then again, maybe feed stores shouldnt provide such easy access or advertise baby ducks, geese, or chickens as an Easter surprise your kids will love, we all know where most of those babies end up when they grow up.........dont we.

 

[lovelychicken]

I have too much animal protection instinct in me, I live in California but all that can (IMO) go take them home, if enough people came they could save some. It upsets me because we (people) are yes at the top of the food chain but because of that we do what WE want without much thought beyond ourselves. IMO.

 

[Cetawin]

Okay I am gonna get slammed here for this but I am saying it anyway.

WILD MUSCOVIES ARE NOT LIKE DOMESTICATED MUSCOVIES!

If there is over 200 and they take out 100 or even 150...what harm will it cause truly?

The mess they make in public parks becomes a health hazard and the population must be controlled.

Florida also does the same thing with other species such as the green iquanas, pigeons, alligators, etc etc. Native and non-native.

The population will continue to explode because more migrate and breed = more babies and they breed and so on and so on meanwhile there are more migrating there.

Before you jump up to slam me understand this...I am an animal lover and protector but I am also a realist. I believe in herd thinning, hunting and culling to control the population. If 75% of the humans left the country and we could return the land to the state it was in in the 1700's before we messed it totally up...there would be no need for any of those actions. Sadly, there are too many animals in far too small territory. If you do not cull and hunt, you will have sick, weak and dying species.

We have the problem with Mountain Lions here in Oregon. I have seen and know of specifically 3 within a 2 mile radius of my home. 2 of them come through my yard. Now if the idiots who are the power that be would get off their butts and take out a couple hundred them...guess what? There would be more food available for the remaining ones which means healthy ones.

I think we have destroyed enough species already, the least we can do is keep the ones we have left healthy and under control so they can be enjoyed for generations to come.

More cats and dogs are euthanized every day in this country because of neglect, abuse & abandonment than the number of the ducks that will be culled in this instance. Which is worse?

 

[guesswhatchickenbutt]

Quote:
That is a very, very interesting point.


It reminds me of how we view death in this country. If one person dies, it's not news. If lots of people die together, we get upset and it's big news (think one car crashes vs multi-car pile-ups). So if they put down 1 duck we probably wouldn't care because it wouldn't even make the news - or even if they put down 1 duck a week, but because it's hundreds of ducks at one time, we're viewing it differently.


I'm the OP and I honestly don't know how I feel about the whole issue. My knee-jerk reaction is to be very sad. Here in FL we do have a habit of allowing a situation to get out of control with wildlife and then we're left with culling as the only option. I don't think the state has the time, personnel or resources to monitor every single species, so many of them just get wildly out of control. It's just a sad story all around...

 

[kinnip]

I feel like a partial culling would be just fine. Honestly, this is a problem that should've been dealt with at the front end. There are too many people buying ducklings who have no intention of keeping them. When I hear about things like this, I understand why TSC has a lower limit of 6. At least it makes people stop and think for a minute.

 

[asher]

Quote:
I believe Terrie said these are actually domesticated ducks that people abandoned at the pond, though? (I skimmed, might have missed more details.)

 

[halo]

I live there. I see the problem every day. And it is a problem. They multiply and multiply, and there is no natural predator. They have to be thinned out. Right now the park is borderline; the fish and water are clean right now, but there will come a point that the ducks will ruin it, and I for one wouldnt want to wait until it was ruined. I understand theres a refuge that has offered to take the ducks for less than the $2,000 that it will cost to euthanize, and park officials will be contacting them on Monday.

Its a lovely park. Every time I go past there, theres families with kids, retirees with fishing lines; it is clean and nice. What is wrong with keeping it that way?

 

[Sillystunt]

They are keepin some there. There are mamma's on eggs which i believe they are leaving alone. DONT QUOTE ME ON THAT!

These ducks are really invading that area. I can see thinning out sick and hurt ducks and maybe sterilizing females. trust mw if i had land i would take as many as i could.

These are not native to Florida and have run off other native ducks, which they hope will return.

I have 2 that come up from the lake to my house. One has a broken leg and the other looks scary. WHich is a shame cause they are very timid!!
I think now only the female comes up and she is sweet! Half tempted to put her in my backyard....lol She looks right at me and swear she smiles. but she is wild and don'twant to chance it with ,y duck GARY..Who would love to hump her, i am sure!!!!!

 

[goosedragon]

There is no need to sterilize females, birth control in birds is simple you just steal the eggs or treat them so they won't hatch. a vigorous shake will addle the eggs or they can be treated with oil which will cut off the air supply needed. Muscovy are great nest hiders, maybe a trained dog or a weekly egg hunt by some kids can do the job. When we raised them for the eggs we had a smart dog that would find the nests (outside the coop) and bring the eggs and lay them on the pourch in return for treats.

 

[yotetrapper]

Dont worry, no matter how many they kill, more will come. I know a man that works for the USDA and every year they slaughter thousands of Canadian Geese.