Muscovies to Be Gased In Ocala.

[LisaAnnW]

Nearly everything likes to eat Muscovy ducklings, even in a city park: water birds like egret and heron, snakes, possums, raccoons, and of course cats and dogs. It has been my experience that without direct intervention, very few make it to adulthood. This is why Muscovies have many eggs in each nest, and multiple nests per year - they are low on the food chain, therefore, it is a gross exaggeration to say that 110 Muscovies could number 1000 in a short time.

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110 ducks can create A LOT of offspring in just one spring, they can go from 110 to 1000 in a short period of time.

 

[pirtykitty]

We have muscovies here also in Texas at the Park ( cameron park) on the Brazos River... plus a lot of wild mallards, dumped domestic ducks and some domestic geese.. The muscovies are lucky to have maybe one or two ducklings make it...

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

nvm.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

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110 ducks can create A LOT of offspring in just one spring, they can go from 110 to 1000 in a short period of time.


So if they have 2 ducklings make it, that gets you from 110 to 330 ducks. My Muscovy's raise on average about 2 clutches per year so thats roughly 550 ducks. In one spring you could go from 110 to about 550 ducks, and thats with 2 ducklings from each hatch surviving until adulthood. Give or take a few. With those 110 ducks you can get to 1000 ducks in about 2-3 years.

Please correct me if this math is wrong... its been a long day.

 

[call ducks]

Quote:
yup.


I am sorry but lets face it, if say alagators were to invaid your local park and they had to cull them would there be this big of a topic on it? Muscovy's are bad breeders, they breed like rabbits. Around here they have one clutch (or some times two i only let mine have one) But in Ocala ( is that a souther state?) if is a southern state i could see a muscovey have up to four clutchs a year. Lets see 4 * 2 = 8 and with in that year those 4 females would be breeding 4*8 = 12 females 12*4 = 48 females those start breding about 9 months or so...l

 

[Fawkes]

i know of a muscovy that had 25 or 26 ducklings this spring. 6 survived. The mother then had another nest and sadly she was killed by a predator just a couple of days before her eggs were due to hatch.

There are many predators. Many birds of prey, foxes, raccoons, and coyotes, to name just a few. Ducks do not survive for long. If they did, that park would have more than 100 ducks by now. They last killed them 2 years ago- they had 2 years to breed and yet the numbers are not as high as you would think they would be with 2 years of breeding going on.

 

[steffy14800]

Okay it is just me(Stephanie Bumpus) again. I did want to let everyone know that I am in contact with All Creatures Sanctuary and several city councilmen regarding the situation. I have also contacted PETA and awaiting some phone calls/emails from several people:

This email reply I would like to share is from Suzy Heinbockel : Ocala City Council:

Dear Ms. Bumpus,

Thank you for taking the time to listen to the audio of the discussion. In that audio I tried to indicate that Mr. Belise's claim of a $1 million dollar insurance requirement was completely inaccurate. If it wasn't clear, then that is my fault.

Unfortunately, families aren't coming there simply to watch the ducks, but also to feed them. According to the University of Florida's IFAS Extension document titled, "Florida's Introduced Birds: Muscovy Duck," "The large ducks are often aggressive, especially when accustomed to being fed, and may chase or attempt to bite children."

I appreciate your interest in protecting the ducks, my interest lies also in protecting the children.

Sincerely,

Suzy Heinbockel
Ocala City Council, District 1
151 S. E. Osceola Ave.
Ocala, FL 34471
352-598-3071
www.ocalafl.org

Public Record Information: Under Florida Law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this address.
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MY REPLY:
Dear Ms. Heinbockle,

Though the numbers on the insurance were off it was still a substantial dollar amount simply for some insurance. Can a insurance waiver to placed?

Muscovy Ducks are often misunderstood. They don't quack and hiss as a way of communication. This is often misunderstood as "agressiveness" but that is not the case. The name Muscovy actually means mosquito and are very good for controlling insect populations. Once they are gone you are going to see an increase in the bug population, something in my eyes is more annoying than duck droppings and guess what they will be flocking in from other area once a void is placed.

I have a few concerns with the euthanization of the ducks. Are all breeds/crossbreeds being euthanized? What measures are you using to prevent poison feed to seep into grounds and the water. I can assure you that would be another mess and another tax payers bill to pick up. When are you planning on giving the ducks laced feed?

I seriously think it has nothing to do with protecting children. Parents have a resposibility to watch their children. Are you afraid of getting sued? Then you should have insurance in case something like that would happen like you require other people to do so. The Muscovy is not an aggressive breed. Yeah, if kids beat on them or case them harm then maybe that would be a possibility.

We will help save the ducks. They deserve it. It is not their fault. Ocala should be called O-Kill-A. It's just disgusting.
Like I said before, what actions can I take to help save them.

Thanks again,
Stephanie Bumpus
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NO RESPONSE

I do want to thank each and everyone of you that has signed my petition it really lets me know that not all people are cruel. I do need more support however. I am having trouble getting my message across. So any help would be great. If you already haven't signed my petition please do so and forward it/post it for everyone to see/sign too.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nokillducks/

I am also trying to get some people together on Saturday at noon for a protest at Tuscawilla park. I was just wondering if there were any interested people in joining me. Feel free to email me anytime. [email protected]

 

[Fawkes]

How ridiculous, muscovies would very, very, very rarely harm someone. People that think their hiss is them being aggressive irritate me so much. How ignorant. Why don't they take the time to research this breed instead of making stupid comments like that. The 'we're trying to protect the children' stuff is their excuse.

I signed and I hope you're able to protest and rescue ducks! I don't live anywhere near there or I would come

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

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I disagree, I have had SEVERAL Muscovy drakes that are hell-bent on killing me. No joke. And I don't think the "protecting children" part is that far off. How heathly can a public park be for kids to play in if its covered in crap? We have a lot of Canada Geese here and I've seen first hand what the grass areas look like once they leave. I can't imagine ducks would be much different. How would you like to take your kid (if you have one) to a public park for the afternoon and have them playing in a bunch of poop??

 

[call ducks]

Quote:
I disagree, I have had SEVERAL Muscovy drakes that are hell-bent on killing me. No joke. And I don't think the "protecting children" part is that far off. How heathly can a public park be for kids to play in if its covered in crap? We have a lot of Canada Geese here and I've seen first hand what the grass areas look like once they leave. I can't imagine ducks would be much different. How would you like to take your kid (if you have one) to a public park for the afternoon and have them playing in a bunch of poop??

OK i am going to agree.

It's rare for a drake to become aggrisive, but they do happen.