Our creek

[ekofke201]

Hello, all! I am not yet the proud owner of any ducks, but seriously considering it. We have a small creek on our property which it teaming with toads and small fish. We had a heron that was visiting frequently, but we have not seen him at all this year. So, there doesn't seem to be any real predators to take care of the numbers... Is it safe to have the ducks eat these little critters? I don't know how they got started (they definitely swam down from the large lake up the street), but it seems odd that nothing wants to eat them. The creek is clean and the lady who owns the property with the lake is crazy about keeping things natural. So, I am sure that she is not putting anything weird in there. Thoughts?

 

[CountryKitty]

In what part of the world are you located? I can't imagine a creek NOT being visited regularly by raccoons, and they are known to kill muscovy, which are some big ducks. Snapping turtles will grab ducklings and drag them under to drown and then eat. Coyotes are found in much of the US, as are bobcats, and both like duck as well.

I have a small creek as well. Lost some muscovy girls that decided that they weren't sleeping in the coop with lowly chickens anymore. Clipped their wings to keep them from flying over the fence and getting tothe creek...couldn't figure out how the darn things kept getting out. Finally saw one of the girls jump up, clawing at the fence and hooking her beak over the top of the 4' fence, and scrambling over. I suspect a coyote waded out and got them at night.

I would be very cautious about turning them loose.