Mass duck killing scheduled for Ocala, FL park

[Sillystunt]

Quote:
Wow, i never knew that.When they showed the picture there was one hiding in a tree. i was like check that duck out....lol
Wonder how much that job pays...WANTED EGG SHAKER IN OCALA....LOL

 

[Pitchfork]

We have the same problem here with
Canadian Geese. They were cute twenty years ago when a few pair were on the local city lake. Then there were dozens on the lake, then there were pairs showing up on ponds down the road, then there were two dozen down the road. Then there was a pair on my neighbors pond, now there are twenty or thirty on my neighbors pond and I spend a few minutes everyday chasing them from my pond. In some areas of town they can have dozens and dozens at any given time. The park is a mess. At some point you have to draw the line. If Tulsa county would destroy 200 Geese it wouldn't make a dent in the population.
There simply is no natural predation to control the population.
It is either humans or wolves and coyotes and cougars.
Just my thoughts

 

[b.hromada]

Yes, thats the state of Florida for you. I don't know how they compete with the native ducks? My hubby's niece's husband knows someone who works for the Game and Fish here in Florida, and he told me that this guy goes around looking for ducks nest, and if they aren't pure Wood duck eggs, he crushes them, right then and there!

I asked him how he knows which are which anyway? He told me that he knows how to tell, just by looking at the nest and eggs. He said that the Wood Ducks were breeding with the Mallards, and they do not want that at all! I mean, come on, crush the eggs and destroy the nest!

How mean can you be. What does Ocala think, killing off those ducks will make it all go away, not hardly, others will come, and what, they will do it all over again. This just makes me sick. I agree, try to fight them the best you can, we owe it to the ducks.

 

[cawooduck]

b.hromada :

This just makes me sick. I agree, try to fight them the best you can, we owe it to the ducks.

Out of curiousity, what are the ducks owed?? And if you dont think they dont compete with wild ducks, your terribly wrong. Any and all non-native species conflict with native species in one way or another, period, whether its introducing disease, wiping out the food source in the area and interbreeding with wild type ducks.

Its a tough concept to grasp ahold of, but because people introduced the muscovies and other breeds of ducks to this pond and other waterways, people also have to take charge and control it by either erradicating the population all together, or knocking it down to a managable population.

Canada geese are a perfect example, once hunted everywhere and carried on migration patterns, now a large amount of them congregate and propagate on local golf courses, home owners association ponds and local school football/baseball/soccer fields, why, because they have year round food and protection from most predators, and no fear of man. Now, the Canadas are considered a pest at most "un-natural" locations because of over grazing, defacation everywhere and yes, they are subject to major inbreeding as well.

Sometimes its time to put feelings aside and concentrate on the real problem at hand............for the good of not just a select few waterfowl, but all waterfowl, all species.​

 

[sweetshoplady]

Cawoodduck, you have a lot of valid points.

I'm just going to pick on FL a little here: We have serious laws protecting the Sea Turtles here and even protecting the Gopher turtles and other turtles. However, if a developer has I believe $400 they can get a permit to mitigate all the gopher turtles. Developers dont like these turtles because they burrow and mess up those million dollar golf courses. In fact if a private person wants to build a house on their land, they can't fill in the turtle holes. The turtle must be allowed to stay. But the developers can take a bulldozer and bury the turtles alive. They won't move them due to biosecurity, might get other turtles sick.
In fact a person can get in big trouble for messing with turtles.

As far as introducing non native species, swans. I don't think those are native and yet I see developers putting swans in their developments. Those are however, usually eaten by alligators. Which with the drainage thing, that you must dig a pond when you build a building/shopping center, etc., alligators get more homes than ever before and in my opinion fast becoming a nuisance.

Florida - the people in charge - have never made much sense to me. I've watched them repave a street then decide the sewer needs to be redone on that same street or lights added so they dig up the street and redo it. This in a 6 month period.

As far as ducks, I don't know. But, I can tell you that we used to have a lot of bob white quails that the developments and other things have by there presence desrtroyed the habitats of those darling little birds. They I beleive are indigenous to FL. And yet no one cares about the little quail. Even since I've been out here in the country. The only quail I've seen in the last 10 years are the ones in my cages/pens in my backyard.

I live on a lake and there are no ducks on it. I have seen ducks move into where they build ponds (and homes for gators). But there hadn't been ducks or gators there previously. Maybe if everybody didn't have to have a waterfront home.

ETA: If this was an individual person going to do this, that one person who said it was right - they'd be in a heap of trouble and probably be in jail for animal cruelty.

 

[Crunchie]

Quote:
Out of curiousity, what are the ducks owed?? And if you dont think they dont compete with wild ducks, your terribly wrong. Any and all non-native species conflict with native species in one way or another, period, whether its introducing disease, wiping out the food source in the area and interbreeding with wild type ducks.

Its a tough concept to grasp ahold of, but because people introduced the muscovies and other breeds of ducks to this pond and other waterways, people also have to take charge and control it by either erradicating the population all together, or knocking it down to a managable population.

Canada geese are a perfect example, once hunted everywhere and carried on migration patterns, now a large amount of them congregate and propagate on local golf courses, home owners association ponds and local school football/baseball/soccer fields, why, because they have year round food and protection from most predators, and no fear of man. Now, the Canadas are considered a pest at most "un-natural" locations because of over grazing, defacation everywhere and yes, they are subject to major inbreeding as well.

Sometimes its time to put feelings aside and concentrate on the real problem at hand............for the good of not just a select few waterfowl, but all waterfowl, all species.

I realize it's not a pleasant thing to think about, especially if you are someone who loves and keeps waterfowl as pets. But I'm with cawoodduck on this one. This doesn't sound like a healthy situation for the ducks in question, and it's certainly not a healthy situation for the local ecosystem. FYI, I have been a vegetarian for animal rights reasons for nearly 15 years. I know full well that people usually let their emotions get in the way of their rational thought process in these kinds of cases. I understand the emotional reaction to this case. But I guarantee that most people up in arms about the humane euthanasia of sick and injured ducks think nothing of eating a hamburger that came from factory-farmed beef. I'm not judging, just saying that this is a knee-jerk reaction that most will see in a different light when they calm down enough to see the big picture.

The real problem though is how and why those ducks got there in the first place. They should never have been there. The solution to this would be education (or, at least part of a solution, as some people will never learn/listen). A lot of people see nothing wrong with dumping ducks at a local pond. Yes, some people are just neglectful, but good people who otherwise take good care of their pets think that a duck needs a pond and that they are doing the best thing for them by leaving them in the company of other ducks at a local pond. A little bit of education would go a long way in this case.

If the healthy Muscovies can be re-homed, I say great. Any other non-native ducks should be euthanized. Everyone is horrified at the thought of euthanasia, but shouldn't we be horrified about how the ducks got there in the first place? This is the real problem. The media should be driving home the point that domestic ducks should not be turned out into the wild in the first place...but I guess that's just not as sensationalist as death.

 

[goosedragon]

Actually there is some debate as to the Moscovy being a non-native to Florida. There are reports from early Spanish explorers of ducks being raised by Native Americans that meet the description of the Muscovy. It is not known if the stock for these domestic Muscovy were obtained locally or by trading with people farther south (there are currently native populations in the south Texas area) In any event it is pretty much agreed that the current "wild" populations are Feral domestics. the feral or domestic Muscovy is a larger bird than the true wild type. In true wild areas the Muscovy tends to blend into the background much like the Wood Duck does in its natural range.
To Crunchie: How can you be so sure that that the ducks were dumped there? Feral Moscovy tend to fly very well, much better than the overfed domestics you seem to have in mind. If you could keep people from feeding the ducks on the pond the population would crash to the level that the environment could support.
To sweetshoplady Are the the man made lakes for drainage or just so everyone can have waterfront homes? (It sounds like I've got mine, other people shouldn't have them.)
To cawooduck You shouldn't blame the wildlife for taking advantage of the environmental changes that man made. The lawns and water features that man loves are also loved by geese and deer. Heaven forbid that we should have any natural preditors like fox, coons, coyote or wolves running around in the suburbs or that people be allowed to hunt there. Is it any wonder that there is a population explosion after man changes the envirionment and drives out all the natural controls?
Wore out my soapbox!

 

[guesswhatchickenbutt]

Quote:
I'm not sweetshoplady, but as the OP and a FL resident I can answer this. The manmade lakes really are for drainage and not considered "waterfront." Living on a retention pond is not a selling point. FL is really one big swamp, so when they build a subdivision, the water has to go somewhere, so each time they build they have to build a retention pond so all the water can drain into it and stop the houses from flooding.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

This is why I've been telling all you Muscovy lovers come on down to Florida and collect allllllll the Muscovies you can carry back to your yards! They are like weeds with wings here. Since they are unowned and an unprotected non-native they are free for the taking. But please, don't bring them back!

The state of Florida has a long and shameful history of ruining its unique and delicate ecosystem in so many ways, and yes, often for profit. This is just one small step in trying to rectify some of the damage that has been done, a small bit of damage control. It upsets people, the "little Codys" who want their "wildlife" to come eat out of their hands, but who fail to comprehend the big picture. It's not just the cute lil' duckies that hold people's heartstrings. There was an article in our local paper that told of a workshop where folks were trained in humane ways to dispatch the (non-native) giant iguanas whose populations are growing & spreading. There was a flood of letters to the editor the next week, crying about how cruel that was to these poor creatures.

Come visit Florida! Take some Muscovies, an iguana, a boa, some feral cats -- and a developer with you when you go!

 

[Crunchie]

Quote:
I can't be sure that people dumped the ducks there. Yes, I'm making some assumptions--but my point is, if they are feral domestics (which is likely), it is the fault of humans and, therefore, the job of humans to fix what they messed up. Feeding the ducks, like you point out, is another way us humans are probably exacerbating the problem. Bottom line, we messed it up, we should fix it. I agree 110% with you that it is human's fault for creating environmental changes that cause these types of problems in the first place. I would like to think that if we are forced, in-your-face style to deal with these problems in ways that obviously make us uncomfortable (euthanizing a large number of ducks), maybe we'll think twice about the root causes--which are largely our fault. Though given our current rate of consumption and the entitlement with which we feel justified to live this way, I don't have high hopes for us coming to our senses anytime soon.

My point being with all that, I think we're pretty much on the same page, goosedragon.