- Mar 14, 2014
- 18
- 4
- 47
I apologize for the long post, but I'm am wits end trying to figure out what to do with a pair of Pekin ducks that I've become very attached to. Thanks in advance for your time and assistance.
I live near a canal where there are two semi-wild Pekin ducks. They are technically wild, but they are used to being fed by pedestrians on the canal. The female has become separated from the male by a water lock. Both the male and the female seem to be rather distressed to be alone and apart. So I'm trying to figure out two questions.
The first is whether it's better to reunite them, or if there was a valid reason for them to be apart? I'm thinking there are three possibilities as to why they are separated: she inadvertently got herself on the other side of the lock, she was chased by a predator or she was chased by other ducks (notably there are two pairs of Blue Swedish that are only occasionally a bit aggressive). If she got herself down there inadvertently or was chased by a predator, I don't see any harm in trying to get her back above the lock. I don't think that the lower part of the canal is any safer from predators than the upper part. If she was chased by the pairs of Blue Swedish ducks, is it better to keep her on the other side of the lock?
The second is how best to reunite them if it makes sense to do so? When hungry, she'll come out of the canal and right up to you if you have corn, pellets, etc. I can't imagine it would be too tough to pick her up. Is it best to put her into a cardboard box and close the lid? A dog kennel? It probably would be no more than a 60-second walk to get her back above the lock. Someone else in the neighborhood suggested a net, but that seemed far more complicated/risky than picking her up and putting her in a box or a kennel.
One additional piece of possibly relevant information. The lock is incredibly noisy due to the flow of water. So although I don't know how she got below the lock, once there, I wouldn't be surprised if she's staying away from it due to the noise. And thus, this may be preventing her from returning even if that's where she'd prefer to be.
If you've made it this far, thank you so much for your time and advice!
Cheers,
Jon
I live near a canal where there are two semi-wild Pekin ducks. They are technically wild, but they are used to being fed by pedestrians on the canal. The female has become separated from the male by a water lock. Both the male and the female seem to be rather distressed to be alone and apart. So I'm trying to figure out two questions.
The first is whether it's better to reunite them, or if there was a valid reason for them to be apart? I'm thinking there are three possibilities as to why they are separated: she inadvertently got herself on the other side of the lock, she was chased by a predator or she was chased by other ducks (notably there are two pairs of Blue Swedish that are only occasionally a bit aggressive). If she got herself down there inadvertently or was chased by a predator, I don't see any harm in trying to get her back above the lock. I don't think that the lower part of the canal is any safer from predators than the upper part. If she was chased by the pairs of Blue Swedish ducks, is it better to keep her on the other side of the lock?
The second is how best to reunite them if it makes sense to do so? When hungry, she'll come out of the canal and right up to you if you have corn, pellets, etc. I can't imagine it would be too tough to pick her up. Is it best to put her into a cardboard box and close the lid? A dog kennel? It probably would be no more than a 60-second walk to get her back above the lock. Someone else in the neighborhood suggested a net, but that seemed far more complicated/risky than picking her up and putting her in a box or a kennel.
One additional piece of possibly relevant information. The lock is incredibly noisy due to the flow of water. So although I don't know how she got below the lock, once there, I wouldn't be surprised if she's staying away from it due to the noise. And thus, this may be preventing her from returning even if that's where she'd prefer to be.
If you've made it this far, thank you so much for your time and advice!
Cheers,
Jon
