# Loner Male Mallard Duck, Need Your Advice!



## Surfgreen (May 6, 2016)

So, this male Mallard showed up at the pond behind my house (Rockford, MI just north of Grand Rapids) this past spring. He is quite tame for a wild duck. He was either raised by humans or got used to humans providing him food. He would literally waddle his way from house to house in my subdivision looking for handouts. When I mowed my yard he would follow me back and forth across my yard. He would come waddling up to me whenever he saw me in my yard. He stayed in my neighborhood until around the 4th of July and disappeared for several months before reappearing in October.

Now, here it is December 10th and he is still hanging out all by himself in the pond behind my house. The pond now has a thin layer of ice covering it and there is a couple inches of snow on the ground. I have been hoping he had the instinct to fly south for the winter, but I now worry that he has lost his natural instincts due to human intervention. Prior to the recent snow, he would eat birdseed that had fallen to the ground from the feeder I have in my backyard. Now, he would have to dig through the snow to get at it and the little birds pretty much eat it up.

I fear he is going to die of starvation and cold if he doesn't have the senses to fly south for warmth and a food source. Looking for advice on how to handle this situation. I don't want the little guy to die out there. Not sure if he is unable to fly or just doesn't have the instinct to fly to a better climate. He is a total loner and even though other ducks have come and gone, he did not leave with them.


----------



## Divers Down (Mar 31, 2008)

You could always drive him south for the winter and pick him back up in the spring.


----------



## DecoySlayer (Mar 12, 2016)

Let nature take it's course. Ignore him.


----------



## Divers Down (Mar 31, 2008)

In these cases, the dnr will say leave him be. Unfortunately your neighbors did a huge disservice by taming him.


----------



## jwinks (Mar 20, 2014)

It’ll be fine. Don’t feed it. It’ll find something.


----------



## Surfgreen (May 6, 2016)

Divers Down said:


> In these cases, the dnr will say leave him be. Unfortunately your neighbors did a huge disservice by taming him.


It appears that he was tamed elsewhere before showing up at our community's pond. My neighbors did do a disservice by feeding him though. I just fear that letting nature run its course, could result in him dying out by the pond for the neighborhood kids to find. Can Mallards survive a Michigan winter? Or is it still likely he will leave once he realizes there is no longer any food and open water?


----------



## Divers Down (Mar 31, 2008)

Surfgreen said:


> It appears that he was tamed elsewhere before showing up at our community's pond. My neighbors did do a disservice by feeding him though. I just fear that letting nature run its course, could result in him dying out by the pond for the neighborhood kids to find. Can Mallards survive a Michigan winter? Or is it still likely he will leave once he realizes there is no longer any food and open water?


Well, he’s lived this long so seems to be pretty street wise. Probably raids bird feeders all winter.


----------



## Duck-Hunter (Mar 31, 2005)

Divers Down said:


> You could always drive him south for the winter and pick him back up in the spring.


Lmao!

Like Decoy Slayer and Divers Down said, the DNR will tell you to leave him be. This happens often. A lot of people think they are being kind and helping a poor animal out. In reality they are going to lead that animal to a sad ending.

If you want to create a hangout install a bubbler to keep a water hole open for him.

Another option would be to contact your local nature center that deals with rehabilitation. They might be willing to help or say the same thing as the DNR

I also think natural instincts will kick in and he will head south. A lake we ice fish the locals put out black oiler seeds for about 15 mallards.(when their hole froze someone left a 25 lbs bag on the ice). They hung out a litter longer than they should have. They followed us around ice fishing one day. Bathing in our open holes, even had them coming up within a couple feet of us. When I would walk away they would follow me, all in a line. When I stopped or turned around they would sit. My buddy use to have the video on his phone. Lol


----------



## Bigeejakes (Nov 11, 2011)

It would be a good lesson for the kids I think.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk


----------



## UplandnWaterfowl (Jan 3, 2010)

The only thing you can do is let nature take its course, no agency is going to herculean efforts for 1 duck. The duck is protected by Fed laws so you can't "save" him.

Had a goose this year that could not fly, hung out on our front lawn for 3 months, never feed him and the dog always chased him back into the water. He only liked our place because we mow to the waters edge and it was easy for him to get out. Month ago stopped showing up, we were hoping the eagles had a good meal.

We named him Larry and would yell out every time we get home and he was sitting in the middle of the yard, How's it going Larry, better head to the water, the dog will be coming for a visit when we open the door.


----------



## DecoySlayer (Mar 12, 2016)

Even wild ducks often are "too stupid" to leave an area. Remember all those canvasbacks that starved to death along the Detroit River a few years back?


----------



## MasterBaiters (Jul 13, 2017)

OMG! has it ever occurred to you that its the poor duck that has hood winked the humans?


----------



## TheHighLIfe (Sep 5, 2017)

Bigeejakes said:


> It would be a good lesson for the kids I think.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk



well said - you beat me to it!
maybe one of the kids would not grow up to be an ignorant tree hugger


----------



## ajkulish (Nov 16, 2013)

You should let me take it out before nature runs its course


----------



## fsamie1 (Mar 8, 2008)

Well he survived the duck season so he is not very stupid. There is pond in my neighborhood that stay open all winter due to water fountains in it. there are more than 200 duck in it all winter. they go someplace to eat in the morning and come back later afternoon. If this duck is too stupid to find open water, then...


----------



## Sharkbait11 (Apr 7, 2017)

put down some bread crumbs...make a trail going right into a pot of water....easiest dinner ever.


----------



## John Singer (Aug 20, 2004)

Christmas is coming.










Seriously, you state that you do not want this bird to die. The fate of this bird is not likely yours to decide. What you observe happening, happens everyday.


----------



## Jerry Lamb (Aug 3, 2015)

DecoySlayer said:


> Even wild ducks often are "too stupid" to leave an area. Remember all those canvasbacks that starved to death along the Detroit River a few years back?


Never forget it I was on I-94 at Cadieux and 3 Goldeneye flew through traffic. There were dead birds all over the Shores.


----------



## Lamarsh (Aug 19, 2014)

There are domesticated breeds of ducks that look very similar to mallards. Wild or domesticated, it does seem like he isn't doing what he should do, which is fly south to where water isn't freezing up, or find a river to loaf in all winter long (we have plenty of resident ducks and geese that do this).


----------



## eye-sore (Jan 7, 2012)

Save him for the split


----------



## N M Mechanical (Feb 7, 2008)

My flight pen is in grant and he will be well feed


----------



## waterfowlhunter83 (Aug 10, 2005)

N M Mechanical said:


> My flight pen is in grant and he will be well feed


Sounds like a good duck for a duck search this spring LOL!


----------



## Fishman95 (Jan 25, 2015)

Surfgreen said:


> I just fear that letting nature run its course, could result in him dying out by the pond for the neighborhood kids to find.


Have these kids never seen a dead animal before? If a dead animal would be that traumatic to them, I have some bad news for you: in the long term the kids are probably even worse off than the duck is.

Let darwinism take its course.


----------



## ajkulish (Nov 16, 2013)

I really dont think the OP realized that MichiganWaterfowl.com is a duck hunting site more than a waterfowl fan site. LOL


----------



## AaronJohn (Oct 18, 2015)

Is it banded at least lol


Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman


----------



## Spartan88 (Nov 14, 2008)

I had a pet duck live over a decade outside in MI winters. Got him as a duckling from a farmer.


----------



## cgc Zephyr (Oct 24, 2006)

You guys make me laugh. If there's food and water for it it'll hang out and be good. Think I Nguyen you need to save it or it being domesticated. Shheeeeit pick up a gun and see what it does. Up here where I live there are ponds that don't freeze even when the river has 3 feet on it. It holds ducks all the time. I've seen duck runways going from one pond to another thru the snow. And yes they will hit feeders if they get a spot sighted in.


----------

