Urgent Help! Four Baby Ducks Went Missing In One Day And It All Seems Odd

[Miss Lydia]

Have you ever see an Alligator in your lake? I was born and raised in Florida and we even had alligators in large creeks in Jacksonville Fla. I am sure they eat alot of water fowl.

 

[marvelfanatic22]

Have you ever see an Alligator in your lake? I was born and raised in Florida and we even had alligators in large creeks in Jacksonville Fla. I am sure they eat alot of water fowl.

Hi there.

No, we do not have any Alligators. That I am positive. All the alligators live in the Everglades, and I live in a suburban area that is gated.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I lived in Jacksonville Florida and we had alligators so I assume most of Florida has them unless they rounded them all up and took them to the Everglades. Just was wondering if maybe a gator is dining on the ducks. Snapping turtles will pull a duck under and eat them. We had big snapping turtles up in Jacksonville.

 

[marvelfanatic22]

I lived in Jacksonville Florida and we had alligators so I assume most of Florida has them unless they rounded them all up and took them to the Everglades. Just was wondering if maybe a gator is dining on the ducks. Snapping turtles will pull a duck under and eat them. We had big snapping turtles up in Jacksonville.

Yeah I definitely have not seen any alligators here in South Florida and if there was one spotted, it probably had been moved back to the everglades. Its way too much of a city for one to be here, especially children around. We do have snapping turtles, so those are here. I doubt it would be a snapping turtle since all four went missing and these ducklings were fairly big. Even one of them was taller than the mom, and that one is gone.

 

[sowNreap]

Sorry about the loss of ducklings. I lived in FL a very long time. Gators are not just in the everglades. They live in the canals, golf course ponds, ponds located in middle of citrus orchards, containment ponds that subdivisions have to make when starting new community. They are all over FL. They don't get captured & sent to the Everglades.

Lake Jesup, Lake Monroe, Lake Kissimmee are simply full of gators. The big wide ditches beside Interstate 95 have gators.

Some homeowners have found gators in their swimming pools or sunning on their front porch. They're everywhere. lol

And those ducklings probably couldn't fly to escape the quickness of a gator. They're pretty fast on land too. And stealthy.

 

[marvelfanatic22]

Sorry about the loss of ducklings. I lived in FL a very long time. Gators are not just in the everglades. They live in the canals, golf course ponds, ponds located in middle of citrus orchards, containment ponds that subdivisions have to make when starting new community. They are all over FL. They don't get captured & sent to the Everglades.

Lake Jesup, Lake Monroe, Lake Kissimmee are simply full of gators. The big wide ditches beside Interstate 95 have gators.

Some homeowners have found gators in their swimming pools or sunning on their front porch. They're everywhere. lol

And those ducklings probably couldn't fly to escape the quickness of a gator. They're pretty fast on land too. And stealthy.

Thank you so much. I appreciate the sentiment.

Yeah, I totally get that. I know that its not like you can't find Gators in South Florida, and it is literally a part of FL. Having said that, I know it is near impossible for any gator to be where I live. I have lived in the same house for about 18 years now. I live in the busy parts of Palm Beach County, and it is not common to see one anywhere near where I live because it is a busy city. If there were any, someone would have easily spotted it.

I can guarantee it wasn't a gator because there are too many communities where I live and you see cars everywhere. The community next to ours is also way more packed and crowded than ours. The best explanation is a possible raccoon or possum or even a family of them that may have attacked them.

 

[sowNreap]

The best explanation is a possible raccoon or possum or even a family of them that may have attacked them.

Yeah it could've been any type of animal; snake, hawk, owl, feral cat or even human. Hard to know really.

 

[GranderTheGander]

I wouldn't be so fast to blame those in the ungated communities, although there is the possibility someone is catching them or killing them. Also, it's possible since Muscovy ducks are invasive that someone is getting rid of them when they can. As others have stated, though, it's more likely predators are eating them, since there is no shortage of predators that eat ducks and ducklings. You might want to accept that you can't control the lives of free roaming domestic ducks and their ducklings. I know it is hard to accept that when you care so much about them, but that sadly is the reality of the situation.