Hi all,
I have a small flock of Muscovies that live around a body of water behind my house. Two of them were hatched and raised by me after their nest was attacked (guess the raccoon had had enough eggs to eat so he left two behind), and now my two, as well as the other two females, have started building nests around the property that keep getting eaten.
I have set traps and caught seven raccoons and three opossums, but the eggs keep getting eaten. One of the ducks that I raised has built a nest in the shack that a built for them when they were younger, but last night the sole egg she had laid was eaten. The ducks live outside by the water's edge and absolutely hate being in the shack or the run attached to it, so I really can't pen them in at night, besides the fact that the shack and run aren't big-- they were designed for juveniles.
Anyone have any tips on how to protect this nest other than wait outside with an AR15? The shack has a door that can be closed and latched. I was thinking of closing it at night and waking up early in the AM to open it so she can lay her eggs. Do you all have any suggestions?
I have a small flock of Muscovies that live around a body of water behind my house. Two of them were hatched and raised by me after their nest was attacked (guess the raccoon had had enough eggs to eat so he left two behind), and now my two, as well as the other two females, have started building nests around the property that keep getting eaten.
I have set traps and caught seven raccoons and three opossums, but the eggs keep getting eaten. One of the ducks that I raised has built a nest in the shack that a built for them when they were younger, but last night the sole egg she had laid was eaten. The ducks live outside by the water's edge and absolutely hate being in the shack or the run attached to it, so I really can't pen them in at night, besides the fact that the shack and run aren't big-- they were designed for juveniles.
Anyone have any tips on how to protect this nest other than wait outside with an AR15? The shack has a door that can be closed and latched. I was thinking of closing it at night and waking up early in the AM to open it so she can lay her eggs. Do you all have any suggestions?