Our private,manmade canal system is backyard to 132 homes and is about 30 years old. We have an unwanted duck population due in part to residents feeding the ducks. Migratory ducks are still coming in and everyone enjoys that. But most of the ducks on the water now are resident mallards, and we have resident muscovy duck residents too. There are are a lot of complaints about the number of ducks, but no solutions since they are protected by law. We have relocated beavers when they become a problem, but no one knows how to relocate a duck because we understand if we left them somewhere else, they would beat us home.

-- Cindy Yandell (jyandell3@attbi.com), January 25, 2002

Answers

Check with your local Wildlife Conservation Service. May be called something like Fish & Game Agency in places. See if they have options for relocation.

Far as I know ducks have a migratory instinct, but not a homing one beyond that. Since they haven't been shown the way by their parents or other ducks, they might not know how to come back home.

However, I suspect since they are being fed, the population would soon increase back to the current level.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), January 25, 2002.

Cindy, you will not see these ducks leave to go anywhere as long as people persist in feeding them. There is a fine line here between "Domestic Mallards" and wild ones. I rehab ducks, (just the wild species)and raise bantam domestics, and although I let the wild ones go, right here on my pond when the ducklings are old enough or the injured ones are recovered enough, and supply plenty of food for them,they still migrate and leave in the fall. I think you just might be dealing with Domestic Mallards where you are and as long as there is food provided they will not leave. As for the Muscovies, they are a jungle bird, distantly related to our ducks and all of those are imported into the USA and are all domestic birds so they will NOT migrate either. You might talk to your Fish and Wildife People. I do not believe that any creature that is not indiginous to our country is protected by any laws and that would apply to the Moscovies. As for the Mallards, most people cannot tell the difference between the wild mallard and the domesticated strain, and this goes for Fish and Wildlife people also, so I don't know what to tell you there other than to prevail upon your neighbors not to feed them. As a matter of fact, in most places it is illegal to feed them, and you might get somewhere with that approach. You might also contact any rehabbers in your area that might be able to help with the Moscovie problem. Here in our little place, the river runs right through the middle of town. The domestic goose and duck population got out of hand, due to the same problem that you have, people feeding them. The local Humane Society trapped all of them and they were relocated. As these are all domestic critters,or domestics crossed with wild species, their wings were clipped prior to release on ponds of volunteers. I hope you will let us know what happens and I wish you good luck with this, it is a sticky wicket isn't it? LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), January 25, 2002.

I believe I've read somewhere that domestic mallards in the USA are cross-breeding with and polluting the gene-pool of genuine wild species and sub-species of ducks. If what you've got most of the time is feral domestic mallards, but you do get genuine wild ducks coming in, you may be able to get the Fish and Wildlife people and the local humane society involved on that basis, clean up the ferals mallards and get them to people who will house them elsewhere. Of course the muscovies are by definition plain feral and unprotected other than by any local law.

-- Don Armstrong (from Australia) (darmst@yahoo.com.au), January 25, 2002.