otter killing ducks

ezzy6.5

Well-Known Member
Hi all,
have any of you got experiance of otters killing ducks? we are loosing around 2 a night and i am only finding feathers around the flight ponds. have sat out several times and am lamping it 3 times a week at the moment but nothing!
one of the lads is convinced its an otter. any ideas?
Ezzy
 
Otters do kill ducks .


BUT my money is on his american mate !



MINK !!!!

Place a tunnel ( with out the trap) with wet clay in and see whos prints are there, If mink set trap . Good luck !!
 
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keep an eye out for the runs if its an otter there will be signs had the same problem last year but got it sorted Handy
 
one of the lads is convinced its an otter. any ideas?
Ezzy
why is he convinced?
what signs on land?
Spraint?
footprints?
nearby holt?
otters will take there food to a regular place and eat it there. you will find clear otter signs around the remains of the duck
 
If there are any sandy areas check for prints and you should find your answer.Otters will take ducks but the more likely culprit could be a mink.Big difference in print size and might be worth investing in a mink trap.
 
ive seen otters taking ducklings but not an adult(not to say they wont),but likewise think mink most likely.
 
they can be pure b******s i have had a lot of problems with them we have lost 3 geese and turkeys also chickens and ducks , heard a duck one night outside the house that was sat on eggs under a bush 5 yard from bedroom window going nuts looked out the window and there was the big wet lad chasing the duck in the garden fecking thing.
they can be sporadick sometimes come and kill then disapear for a couple of days.
usual signs are if you find any bodys is they usualy chew the beakeand half the face of.
had them pestering a pond with reared ducks on killed over a hundred in a month ended up scaring the **** out of rest of the ducks and they all statrted to flight out when it got dark.
electric fence around the pond some times works, good way is a radio but limeted after a little while, if its a flight pond then they are no use as that will disturpe the wild ducks.
not a lot else you can do.
if its mink they are easy caught with catch alive traps with a bit of fish( i use tins of cheap sardines in water not tomatoe sauce!) and usualy catch themwith in a couple of days,
good luck
 
A friend of mine in Perthshire swears otters take a lot of his ducks and quite a few of his resident goslings
when I stayed with him last I slept in the bedroom nearest his big pond an was woken up most mornings a couple of hours before dawn. we found signs of killing later prints were definatly too big for mink.
 
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