what do you class as a predator?

[chilly]

I am thinking about letting my ducks spend more time outside and wondered what you would class as a predator?

they are 4 weeks old and getting feathers all over, the only animals we have close by are cats and seagulls.

would a cat take on a duck that is best part full grown?

the seagulls all have large young, would they be any match or should we keep an eye on them at all times when they are in the garden?

when they are full grown, what would you class as a bona fide predator?

 

[rainplace]

I don't know exactly what sort of predators you have in england... foxes? Dogs can and will get ducks...

 

[CityChicker]

When they are full grown? Cats, Dogs, Coyotes, Foxes, Raccoons, Skunks, Hawks, Owls, basically any mammal and a lot of birds. I have a house in town about 15 minutes from downtown Denver and we had a Fox the very FIRST night we had the birds outside. Luckily, we were prepared for predators. The smaller predators, like cats and skunks, are less likely to get an adult (although, I have certainly seen them try), but they definitely can get younger birds and eggs. The larger predators mentioned above can most definitely get an adult, sometimes whole flocks.

 

[chilly]

We are fortunate to not have most of those things around here (or anywhere in England)
we have a cat who is getting on a bit and there is the possibility of other cats coming into the garden, i'm pretty sure a dog would not be able to get in, we have a six foot fence.

don't think there any foxes anywhere close by.

the only thing that bothers me is the seagulls because they are quite large birds and scavengers.

I think we should keep a close eye on them for the next few weeks or get a net to cover their run until they are older.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
I know nothing about English seagulls. here in the US the larger gulls will kill and eat ducklings very easily. I have had problems with gulls going for the duck and geese feed. The ducks usually run and hide but geese tend to defend their food. Gull tend to mob a bird like that. I answered an uproar once to find a flock attacking a nesting goose. With help she managed to fight them off and injured 3 badly enough that I finished them off. But she really lost the fight as she had 3 very nasty cuts on her head, one just missing her eye and the gulls had taken all of her eggs.

 

[dunkyg99]

thats a sad story, poor wee goose!!! seagulls in scotland have attacked me before when they were nesting on a factory roof!! so if they'll have a pop at me, im sure they would go for a fully grown duck no probs.
how did your goose get on after being attacked? did it recover? did it have babies?

 

[Squirtchy2009]

Badgers, Foxs, Rats anything which could harm them and are in the food chain i supose!

 

[chilly]

Hi Squirtchy,
i was in Ventimiglia, Italy many years ago and looked down at the river and there were ducks and other waterfowl, running in between them were rats eating their poops!!!!
what a horrible place!

i'm pretty sure rats would not come close to our house during daylight hours and they are very safe in the night.

and i don't think there are any badgers or foxes close to where we live.

Goosedargon, thats horrble, i wish we could have guns just for that kind of thing, ( i usually throw things at the seagulls that come close to my ducks)

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
She recovered pretty well but always had an eye on the sky after that. After about a month she started laying again and went broody. I bought her 6 fertilized eggs to hatch (no Gander at that time) but a fox took her on the nest one night and I had to start over.
chilly, I have guns but I have only used them on packs of dogs and coyote. I finished off the 3 gulls that my goose had knocked down with a common garden hoe and a liitle outrage.

 

[chilly]

can't say i blame you, i would kick the living s**t out of anything that threatened my girls