An Update on the Newhall Ducks

Lots of you submitted ideas, opinions, links and legal information about how to handle the ducks, and I want to thank you. Great advice!

Over the last two days, I’ve gotten attached to the little guys. One of you sent a link that said it’s likely only 2 or 3 will survive out of the ten I’ve counted, and now I can see why. These little fellows are preyed upon by everything. The first night a cat staked them out, watching quietly and waiting for one of them to venture close enough to the pool’s edge.

Yesterday, they got into trouble all on their own. I think they must have been cold because they all hopped in the warm hot tub. But the water was too low in the hot tub and the little ducklings couldn’t hop out. It was rather pathetic to see them attempt to jump, only to fall back in and tweet in unison.

So after work I stuck the hose in the hot tub (totally freaking the mom out, but she stayed put) and let it rise until the ducks could hop out.  In the meantime, a male duck landed nearby and was acting aggressively towards the female to the extent that the female hopped up on the fence until the male flew away. Odd.

A half hour later, the mom, much more settled now, was back in the pool with her ducklings, calm and content.

But that wasn’t the end of their troubles. By late evening, I noticed that large crows and possibly red-shouldered hawks were flying around the complex. But the mother duck was wise to aerial attack: I spotted her hanging out beneath a table with her ducklings, just steps from the pool water. Smart!

All was well as the sun went down until about two in the morning, when I woke to hear the mother duck quacking in panic. She and her ducklings were in the pool, swimming to the opposite corner when they rapidly reversed course and stayed in the middle. What caused this ?

Two 30+ pound raccoons had found their way into the pool area and were attempting to corral the ducks on opposite sides of the pool. They were cooperating with each other; one raccoon would move one way and the other would parallel his movements on the opposite side. The mother duck was freaked out but stayed put and eventually the two ‘coons left the enclosure.

It was like Discovery Earth right in my back yard!

I counted eight ducks early this morning and no duck bodies, meaning some animal got his fill of two ducklings in the last few days. A pity, but that is the chain of life. I suspect some of the ducks are just a little slower or a little too adventurous; hence natural selection.

So what are they doing now? Well, unfortunately the ducks are gone. My wife and I have no idea what happened to them. I’m going to ask around and see if anyone took them or rescued them or what. Maybe the mom decided to split, figuring this wasn’t such a safe place after all. Who could blame her?