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Name: Carol
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Question:
We had a female duck nesting in our bush, and she finally had her babies. She took them all down to our lake in our yard. 3 Male ducks have been bothering her and chasing her and mounting her. She gets upset and can not be with her babies, they all hide and when they come out, they all are getting chased back into the weeds. I am so sad and wonder if they will ever be able to come out and learn how to fend for themselves or if they will be hurt or killed by these mean male ducks. Does this all seem normal or common to you?

Replies:
Sorry, yes, it sounds pretty normal. Male mallards are not very nice, by our standards. Pretty much all they are interested in is impregnating female ducks (mallards or not), and they certainly aren't interested in protecting young that aren't theirs.

Richard Barrans
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Wyoming

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