Ducks have got to go

[mahina]

Last edited Tue Mar 29, 2022, 07:12 AM - Edit history (2)

Tl/dr: I’d rather discuss duck crap than Smith/Rock.
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A pair of what I think are hybrid mallards appeared nearby about two months ago and of course now we have baby ducks. They crap everywhere including in the pool. Bacteria from their crap on the pool can make people esp kids sick. Dogs get sick from their crap on land. I wonder about the effects on species in the nearby ocean from their crap washing downstream. The monk seals are badly affected by cat crap already.

The ducks interbreed with native Koloa ducks and make the rare Hawaiian species even more threatened.

They are cute and they deserve to live as much as anybody but they have to get out of here. So far nobody has offered to take them home. When they are moved they come back.

I don’t know what to do to get rid of them. Has to be humane and can’t spread species that don’t belong here.

I’m calling Hawaii fish and wildlife in the morning for advice but wondered if you folks had any ideas.

[Demovictory9]

1. apartment I lived in, put in the fake alligator. it sits in the pool, its tail waving back & forth

https://www.amazon.com/Trademark-Innovations-3-Piece-Alligator-Features/dp/B07MFMGVB7/ref=asc_df_B07MFMGVB7/

also kept beach balls floating in the pool.

[Demovictory9]

2. more

https://www.amazon.com/GARTENGERATE-Alligator-Deterrent-Crocodile-Decorations/dp/B07V7SGQMD/ref=sr_1_3_sspa

[mahina]

3. Thanks. Did it work?

I’ve heard mixed results.

[PoliticAverse]

4. A real alligator would work better. n/t

[mahina]

5. Hokay

[Demovictory9]

6. not sure. they removed it. The kids kept messing with it.

[FSogol]

9. One day those kids will go to Florida. The result won't be pretty.

[hlthe2b]

7. JHC

Maybe you can order one of those cyanide bombs Idaho is using for unwanted wildlife...

[NickB79]

31. Non-native ducks are a real problem in Hawaii

The Hawaiian mallard is an endangered species because of feral mallards.

https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/wildlife/koloa/

This isn't just "unwanted wildlife". Feral mallards need to be exterminated.

[hlthe2b]

32. I don't doubt that, just as on occasion, introduced snakes are. Notify HI Fish & Wildlife.

I'm sensing far more concern about their inconvenience than the invasive species issue. So, I wonder what would be the attitude toward the neighbor's native species-eating pet cat or dogs--neither of which are native to Hawaii either. If they become big enough nuisances... what then?

Yes, I am sensitive as one who works to save Colorado wildlife against some of the self-entitled newcomers to the area that illegally poison the wild rabbits that enter their non-fenced, unprotected gardens (or bully county commissioners to kill off the very territorial and thus nonmigrating prairie dog colonies a full four miles from the nearest house and on public land) or seek to have raptors limited because of a false concern that they are causing major decreases in the songbird populations. You may have a favored species of wildlife, but that doesn't mean you have the right to decide what lives and dies and where. Science-based decisions using population control is the purview of the state wildlife officials and their academic partners--not inconvenienced home-owners or the generally disgruntled.

[NickB79]

33. I'm just as much a fan of exterminating free-roaming cats for the damage they do

And the 3S rule (shoot, shovel, shut up) is widely applied to dogs seen chasing deer in my neck of the woods. So, there's that.

Unfortunately, we both know that scientific research takes a backseat when cute but non-native species are the ones doing the damage to native species.

[Emile]

8. Seriously, decoy Owl or decoy Swans will scare away ducks.

[mahina]

19. Are you sure?

I see the same plastic geese listed as used for hunting as well as deterrents.

Thanks very much.

[Emile]

22. Google Swan Decoys scare ducks away

[Vinca]

10. Ah, to have such problems. Meanwhile, we're freezing our behinds off on the east coast

watching the crows crap on our cars. Pool? What is this pool you speak of? Can you skate on it? (Yep - I'm jealous.)

[Horse with no Name]

12. So I am reading your post this am without my glasses

And thought I read that cows were crapping on your car.
I visualized that for a minute and then went back and reread it lol

[mahina]

13. That would be really remarkable

Lol! 🤣

[Vinca]

14. I've heard of pigs flying, but cows???? ROFL.

[mahina]

18. Sorry mate.

Stay warm.

[Wounded Bear]

11. Don't know the deets, but it sounds like an invasive species...

Perhaps focusing on a "humane" solution is the wrong approach. Fish and Wildlife may not.

[mahina]

16. I understand.

They won’t come and do it, they’ll tell me to do it and I don’t have any weapons or capacity

[hlthe2b]

35. These are migratory birds and covered under Federal law. Only HI Fish & Wildlife can deal with this

Given that it is Hawaii and not the mainland US, the migratory issue is front and center in a way it would not be in the contiguous US. Please don't advise someone to illegally catch or kill in direct opposition to Federal law.


Migratory Bird Permits; Control Order for Introduced Migratory Bird Species in Hawaii
A Rule by the Fish and Wildlife Service on 07/25/2017

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/07/25/2017-15471/migratory-bird-permits-control-order-for-introduced-migratory-bird-species-in-hawaii

[panader0]

15. Capture and cage them, feed them and eat the eggs.

[mahina]

17. How do you catch them?

I could sell tickets. Watching me try would be pretty funny.

[panader0]

20. U tube has several videos about capturing ducks.

I have never had ducks but I have had their eggs many times and they're very good.

[mahina]

26. I need a new project

No I do not but thanks.

[GoCubsGo]

21. Any private "nuisance animal control" companies in your town?

Around here, we have individuals who will remove raccoons, bats, and other critters out of one's attic, etc., and humanely relocate them. Sometimes animal rescues will do the same. These ducks sound like candidates for having their wings clipped and getting retired to someone's farm.

[mahina]

25. Good idea thank you

[hlthe2b]

36. See my post above yours #35. You are advising something against Federal law.

[Fozzledick]

23. You just need to get to know them better...

[mahina]

27. Man I forgot all about that

[Emile]

24. Not sure what this duck problem is, but he seems to be looking for something!

Link to tweet

[mahina]

28. Slightly hilarious

But I do feel bad for him. He seems distressed

[Hekate]

29. I'd rather discuss duck-crap, too

But we do need photos

[mahina]

42. Hey sis

Sorry no can

🤙🏼🤙🏼

[NickB79]

30. If they're non-native and threatening native species, they have to be killed

Hopefully the Fish and Wildlife guys catch and euthanize them for you.

[hlthe2b]

34. Only the state wildlife department is authorized to deal w this. They are protected under Federal

law covering migratory birds. Here is the Federal Register citation, though I'm sure you will just get your gun and go to town as you claim to for dogs and cats. My contempt for that attitude is unlimited and I hope you are caught if you do so.


https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/07/25/2017-15471/migratory-bird-permits-control-order-for-introduced-migratory-bird-species-in-hawaii

Migratory Bird Permits; Control Order for Introduced Migratory Bird Species in Hawaii
A Rule by the Fish and Wildlife Service on 07/25/2017

[NickB79]

38. I never said I shoot cats or dogs

I said I support exterminating them when they threaten native wildlife as feral or free-ranging. For example, as Australia is doing to protect their native species, as a state-sanctioned, well-placed, overwhelming action backed by science. Unfortunately, they're acting after dozens have gone extinct already.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/australias-cats-kill-two-billion-animals-annually-180977235/

The science is clear regarding the damage feral predators do. And as you said, science-based decisions using population control is the purview of the state wildlife officials and their academic partners--not inconvenienced home-owners or the generally disgruntled. If you believe this, actions like those taken in Australia are a non-issue.

[hlthe2b]

39. Authorized science-driven Fish & Wildlife agencies using reviewed population control measures

is the answer. Period. And not all population-control measures are, nor need to be lethal. Of course, to say that doesn't sound so macho, I guess. I oversee just such a program for prairie dogs needed to protect the endangered black-footed ferrets in northern Colorado. Both pre-date white human settler populations in the West and are actually needed for a healthy ecology, despite the rancorous protests from those new to Colorado who think they are moles or gophers or woodchucks or groundhogs.

[NickB79]

40. Who wants to sound macho?

I love science, and I love watching the cute native birds in the prairie restoration on my land. Not a lot of macho men sit around in bars, trading stories of spying meadowlarks and endangered bumblebees over beers 🤣

[mahina]

37. Turns out no

Person who answered the phone just asked me a series of questions. Have I called the department of health, have I called the department of land and natural resources, have I called the department of agriculture??? No, brah, I’m calling you, Dept of Wildlife, to tell me what I should do. I loved him for a minute and then I didnt anymore.

[Hekate]

41. They're good all crispy with Hoisin sauce