Ducks in a cage

[Dr Bob]

8 hours ago, jeddlad said:

Last night I was moored up to the boat with the ducks, nice chap, ducks were fine, seemed in good health and in good welfare, I was worried about my dog hassling them but the ducks soon put my pooch in his place.

 

Sorry but imo, what a snobby assumption you have made about the liveaboard boater who is tending to the ducks. You have made your judgment based on what his boat looks like and your baseless presumption that he doesn't move very much. Shame on you.

Don't keep us in suspenders then. Were they pets, dinner or summet else?

[jeddlad]

They are pets. I don't know the guy but I saw the post on here and realised I was moored next to this topics subject matter and decided to have a chat with him.. I still think it's incredibly snobby and bad taste to judge a person by the state of their boat. Not everyone can afford a nice new boat.

 

In 7 years on the canals, most (not all) of the really nice, helpful and kind people I've met have been on boats that the shiney boat brigade would call scruffy. I'd rather deal with nice people than nice boats!

[Dr Bob]

On 30/09/2018 at 15:29, Dr Bob said:

 

I photo a lot of ducks in the UK (or wildfowl in general terms so have some sort of feeling for them viz, widgeon, gadwall, shelduck, eider, teal, Rudy Shelduck, Pintail, Pochard, Red crested Pochard, Shoverler, Long tailed duck, greater scaup, lesser scaup, tufted duck, hdpe giant duck and mandarin duck but always feel let down when an new one turns out to be a mallard.

.......and today I saw a new one for the canals ....an American Wood Duck (aka Carlolina). A male and 2 females. Probably escapees from a collection (or the decendants of). 100yards south of Blisworth Marina. Too grey to get a good photo.

[Jerra]

2 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

.......and today I saw a new one for the canals ....an American Wood Duck (aka Carlolina). A male and 2 females. Probably escapees from a collection (or the decendants of). 100yards south of Blisworth Marina. Too grey to get a good photo.

A small Uk population.   In the 2007 - 11 BTO Atlas surveys the winter population was recorded in only 77 10Km squares with breeding being more reduced with evidence of attemps/breeding in 30 10Km squares but confirmed in only 10 of these.

[Guest]

17 hours ago, jeddlad said:

Last night I was moored up to the boat with the ducks, nice chap, ducks were fine, seemed in good health and in good welfare, I was worried about my dog hassling them but the ducks soon put my pooch in his place.

 

Sorry but imo, what a snobby assumption you have made about the liveaboard boater who is tending to the ducks. You have made your judgment based on what his boat looks like and your baseless presumption that he doesn't move very much. Shame on you.

I'm sorry but you're wrong in you're assumption that the condition of the boat was my reason for seeking advice on what to do. If I'd seen what I thought at the time were wild ducks in a cage outside a gin palace I would have sought the same advice. My reason for thinking it didn't move very far was that the whole rear deck was full of engine parts and scooters and various other bits so looked very difficult or almost impossible to steer from there. Perhaps it wasn't completely relevant to my original post, I was just trying to give people an idea of the situation as I saw it.

 

As I stated in my original post the owner was not around at the time to speak to, and me being me I wouldn't have wanted to bring the subject up even if they were there in a tuxedo sipping champaign, as I would have found the whole thing rather awkward.

 

As it turned out the advice on here made me decided not to contact anyone about the ducks as several people made points which suggested they were probably pets.

Edited October 2, 2018 by Rumsky

[Dr Bob]

28 minutes ago, Jerra said:

A small Uk population.   In the 2007 - 11 BTO Atlas surveys the winter population was recorded in only 77 10Km squares with breeding being more reduced with evidence of attemps/breeding in 30 10Km squares but confirmed in only 10 of these.

When we lived in Scotland, we bred Carolina's on our mill pond. At least half a dozen escaped (1995-2005) to add to the local population - and at least 20 red crested pochards. Not surprising these rare ducks pop up in the UK.

[WotEver]

31 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

When we lived in Scotland, we bred Carolina's on our mill pond. At least half a dozen escaped...

‘Escaped’?  You mean ‘flew off’?  Ain’t that what ducks do?

[Dr Bob]

30 minutes ago, WotEver said:

‘Escaped’?  You mean ‘flew off’?  Ain’t that what ducks do?

Its complicated. Most people who keep ducks pinion them.....ie amputate of the top part of the wing of a new chick so they cant fly when they grow up. I didnt do this with our chicks. We trimmed the primary wing feathers on one wing which stops them flying until the first moult (usually the spring after the year of birth). We sold them  before the feathers regrew.....our customers knew this...as they were all going to keep them in cages....we had them out on the pond all the time not in cages. Some of them flew off before we sold them adding to the 'rare' wild bird population.

Any birdwatcher seeing some exotic wildfowl usually thinks first that it is an escapee. The escapees though then establish themselves as resident birds viz Egyptian geese.

[Athy]

6 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

 We trimmed the primary wing feathers on one wing which stops them flying

Wouldn't they fly round in circles?

[rusty69]

2 minutes ago, Athy said:

Wouldn't they fly round in circles?

Be OK if it was a circular pond!

[jeddlad]

3 hours ago, Rumsky said:

I'm sorry but you're wrong in you're assumption that the condition of the boat was my reason for seeking advice on what to do. If I'd seen what I thought at the time were wild ducks in a cage outside a gin palace I would have sought the same advice. My reason for thinking it didn't move very far was that the whole rear deck was full of engine parts and scooters and various other bits so looked very difficult or almost impossible to steer from there. Perhaps it wasn't completely relevant to my original post, I was just trying to give people an idea of the situation as I saw it.

 

As I stated in my original post the owner was not around at the time to speak to, and me being me I wouldn't have wanted to bring the subject up even if they were there in a tuxedo sipping champaign, as I would have found the whole thing rather awkward.

 

As it turned out the advice on here made me decided not to contact anyone about the ducks as several people made points which suggested they were probably pets.

From the tone of your original post, you sound like either a snob or a busy body with nothing better to do. How much of your time has one bloke keeping a few ducks, taken up? 

 

With everything going on with the poor maintenance / management  of our canals, why not use your time and effort doing something about that? Leave those that are quietly living their lives with zero impact on you, alone.

Edited October 2, 2018 by jeddlad

[Guest]

Probably about 10 minutes in total, I made a request for opinions on a situation I hadn't seen before. I received the opinions I asked for.

[Jerra]

12 minutes ago, jeddlad said:

From the tone of your original post, you sound like either a snob or a busy body with nothing better to do. How much of your time has one bloke keeping a few ducks, taken up? 

 

With everything going on with the poor maintenance / management  of our canals, why not use your time and effort doing something about that? Leave those that are quietly living their lives with zero impact on you, alone.

So had the sighting been of an emaciated dog with open wounds would you have offered the same advice.

 

Rumsky saw what he/she (haven't checked to ascertain gender) might be cruel so took action.  As it happens there doesn't seem to be a problem but better to try to prevent suffering than leave those perpetrating it to quietly live their lives.

[Dr Bob]

3 hours ago, rusty69 said:

Be OK if it was a circular pond!

Maybe the're supporting the circular economy?

[rusty69]

8 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

Maybe the're supporting the circular economy?

Judging the amount of bird crap on my canopy...... I think not! 

[ditchcrawler]

22 hours ago, jeddlad said:

 

 

In 7 years on the canals, most (not all) of the really nice, helpful and kind people I've met have been on boats that the shiney boat brigade would call scruffy. I'd rather deal with nice people than nice boats!

I am worried now, we are in for a repaint next year.

[Jennifer McM]

Don't know if this is the same boater the OP mentioned.

 

Saw a moored boat yesterday (Staffs & Worcs) with a crate on the stern, and one on the towpath with ducks inside. The ducks were the normal mallard type.

 

If the boater is hungry, and it's legal to kill and eat wild ducks, well OK but kill them quickly - at least respect the food you're eating.

 

It was horrible to see the wild ducks in the crate, obviously being fattened up. They weren't allowed to move 'naturally' in the crate, all they could do was watch the wild ducks outside of their crate behaving naturally. 

 

It was horrible to see.

Edited September 3, 2019 by Jennifer McM

[Nightwatch]

One of our sons, for whom we are house, dog and duck sitting, has four Indian running ducks. They have the pleasure of a long wide run complete with a duck house in which they are secured at dusk. In addition they are 'let out' into the main garden every day. I think a good life is being enjoyed.

 

if I were to see the above mentioned situation, I'm not convinced my behaviouroukd be acceptable by all. Seems odd to have a wild animal in confined captivity.

[Jennifer McM]

20 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

One of our sons, for whom we are house, dog and duck sitting, has four Indian running ducks. They have the pleasure of a long wide run complete with a duck house in which they are secured at dusk. In addition they are 'let out' into the main garden every day. I think a good life is being enjoyed.

 

if I were to see the above mentioned situation, I'm not convinced my behaviouroukd be acceptable by all. Seems odd to have a wild animal in confined captivity.

Love those Indian ducks, they remind me of folded umbrellas running around 

[Nightwatch]

1 minute ago, Jennifer McM said:

Love those Indian ducks, they remind me of folded umbrellas running around 

Mary Poppins style. I agree.

[BruceinSanity]

30 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

Seems odd to have a wild animal in confined captivity.

Isn’t it an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act?

[doratheexplorer]

2 hours ago, Jennifer McM said:

Don't know if this is the same boater the OP mentioned.

 

Saw a moored boat yesterday (Staffs & Worcs) with a crate on the stern, and one on the towpath with ducks inside. The ducks were the normal mallard type.

 

If the boater is hungry, and it's legal to kill and eat wild ducks, well OK but kill them quickly - at least respect the food you're eating.

 

It was horrible to see the wild ducks in the crate, obviously being fattened up. They weren't allowed to move 'naturally' in the crate, all they could do was watch the wild ducks outside of their crate behaving naturally. 

 

It was horrible to see.

I'm sure it was horrible.  A good reason to only eat Organic poultry or poultry where you know exactly where and how it was reared.

[Jennifer McM]

26 minutes ago, BruceinSanity said:

Isn’t it an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act?

Thank you Bruce - here's a link to the Act http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/69/enacted

 

I've sent an email to RSPB explaining what I saw. 

[Jennifer McM]

I've had a reply..... well there we ?

 

Quote

Dear Jennifer 

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

 

All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 that makes it illegal to take, injure or kill a wild bird of any species. However, from the 31^stAugust to the 1^st February (or until the 21^st February when below high water mark), mallard ducks can be killed or taken.

 

This is known as a the open season and is considered legal as per the legislation above. If you saw the mallards being kept before the 31^st August, then this would have been illegal since it is during the close season when they cannot be taken.

 

The RSPB is a conservation charity and cannot enforce the Law. For wildlife crimes, we strongly advise contacting the local Wildlife Crime Officer via 101 since they have the power to investigate further. For welfare cases, you should contact the RSPCA (0300 1234 999) since they are responsible for welfare conditions of all animals in the UK.

 

Kind regards,

 

Sian Denney  Supporter Advisor (Wildlife)  UK Headquarters The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire SG19 2DL  Tel 01767 693690

 

[Tumshie]

19 minutes ago, Jennifer McM said:

I've had a reply..... well there we ?

 

I've never found the SSPCA or the RSPCA to be much help, they don't have any more power to do anything that any other member of the public, they just have a greater level of Law knowledge than the rest of us and if they think they can get a result then they will use resources but other wise they won't. They also rely quite heavily on the police, who trust them because they have this exceptional working knowledge of the Law. 

 

If you have photos and the name/number of the boat then it might be worth going to the police to ask them about it. It is perfectly legal to shot ducks but there are laws with regards to how and where you can do it, and I would want more information on what is meant by taken, because while it might be duck season I'm not sure that includes stuffing them inhumanly into cat crates. 

 

I would also talk to CRT about this because if those duck came from CRT ground/waters then technically it could be classed as poaching. 

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by Tumshie