Keeping duck out with electric fence?

Its the time of year again when a pair of mallard take up
residence on our pond. Looks very charming but they
vandalise all the plants in baskets and eat all my frog
and newt spawn.

I am thinking about running a single strand of electric
fence across the pond - they are certain to bump into it
frequently - especially at night and this may deter them
from visiting.

But I dont want to find a dead duck in my pond. Anybody
any experience of doing what I propose. The system I am
interested in is described as " this unit will produce a
pulsating, High Tension, low energy voltage of approx.
1000 Volts for up to 100 Metre spans. For electrically
operated fences for smaller animals, poultry fences, pigs
etc, or to keep foxes out".

DAvy

Davy,

My condolences on the ducks. Lot's of discussion in the past on this
subject. Here's a classic "duck" post:

JB

-------- Original Message --------
>Subject: Re: Ducks and Ponds
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 00:09:02 +1300
>From: IAN <ian@minidata.co.nz>
Organization: Customer of Telecom Internet Services
Newsgroups: rec.ponds
References: <19990318202821.02673.00000237@ng18.aol.com>


> We have a man-made pond and wondered
> if it is possible to buy baby duck to
> put at the pond,

Wooah Tina... Don't rush into this duck thing.

I have a Peking, its a beautiful white innocent thing that poops in
unbelievable quantities. Never mind about a bio-filter, you are going
to need a sewerage system suitable for a small town to deal with what
this duck is going to do to your pond.

> would they stay or would they leave?

No need to fret on this account - ducks never take the hint. Chuck `em
it in the air and it'll come right back. Sure it will occasionally
wander out onto the highway, but motorists would rather run off the
road and kill all their passengers than hit a duck that's sitting looking
right at them.

Look closely at the general design of your average duck, notice that
the cranium is small. It is my belief that if you could take all the duck
brains in the world and combine them in a sort of super organic
computer you would basically have a machine with a loose bowel and a
vocabulary
limited to: "quack". A duck is a natural born lobotomy.

> wondering if the cats if the neighborhood would bother them.

Hell no, the neighborhood cats will not bother your duck, unless it is
a duckling which you have just presented to your young daughter.
Actually you will find the neighborhood cats will avoid close encounters
with
anything that looks like a duck. This is partly because cats dislike
stepping in duck doo to get to their prey and partly because the duck
thinks any passing cat must be its mother/sister/brother/mate. Even
the staunchest Tomcat finds it unnerving to have to deal with this sort
of thing and will generally go to extremes to avoid an embarrassing
encounter.

>Would we need to
> put a fence around it?

Sure, fence your duck, but it won't do you any good. You will still
hear screeching tires on the road and the neighbors will still phone you up
to say your duck is harassing their cat again.

If you do get a duck be sure to turn on the lights at night before
your walk across the lawn. One of the most unforgettable experiences you
can have is tripping over a sleeping duck in the dark.

Regards Ian Gill Westland New Zealand



"Davy" <me@removeallthistextchobham.org.uk> wrote in message
news:Xns9BB3858B4F4BCmeremoveallthistextc@216.196.109.145...
> Its the time of year again when a pair of mallard take up
> residence on our pond. Looks very charming but they
> vandalise all the plants in baskets and eat all my frog
> and newt spawn.
>
> I am thinking about running a single strand of electric
> fence across the pond - they are certain to bump into it
> frequently - especially at night and this may deter them
> from visiting.
>
> But I dont want to find a dead duck in my pond. Anybody
> any experience of doing what I propose. The system I am
> interested in is described as " this unit will produce a
> pulsating, High Tension, low energy voltage of approx.
> 1000 Volts for up to 100 Metre spans. For electrically
> operated fences for smaller animals, poultry fences, pigs
> etc, or to keep foxes out".
>
> DAvy
>

Davy wrote:
> Its the time of year again when a pair of mallard take up
> residence on our pond. Looks very charming but they
> vandalise all the plants in baskets and eat all my frog
> and newt spawn.
>
> I am thinking about running a single strand of electric
> fence across the pond - they are certain to bump into it
> frequently - especially at night and this may deter them
> from visiting.
>
> But I dont want to find a dead duck in my pond. Anybody
> any experience of doing what I propose. The system I am
> interested in is described as " this unit will produce a
> pulsating, High Tension, low energy voltage of approx.
> 1000 Volts for up to 100 Metre spans. For electrically
> operated fences for smaller animals, poultry fences, pigs
> etc, or to keep foxes out".
>
> DAvy
>
1st- I wouldn't be sure that they would "bump" into it. Animals have
active senses to avoid such items.

2nd- that much voltage is nothing because combined with "low energy"
means not many amps (which is what does the dirty).

3rd- strung across water which is an excellent conductor, if it ever
drooped, might do the fish more harm than the ducks.

My advice- don't!

Chip

On Sun, 15 Feb 2009 09:57:12 EST, Davy <me@removeallthistextchobham.org.uk>
wrote:

>Its the time of year again when a pair of mallard take up
>residence on our pond. Looks very charming but they
>vandalise all the plants in baskets and eat all my frog
>and newt spawn.
>
>I am thinking about running a single strand of electric
>fence across the pond -
>DAvy

I think I'm with Chip, seems the current would go into the water as it
passed thru the duck.

If you located where it isn't freezing a motion sprinkler would do the
trick. If freezing.... bird netting? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

"Davy" <me@removeallthistextchobham.org.uk> wrote in message
news:Xns9BB3858B4F4BCmeremoveallthistextc@216.196.109.145...
> Its the time of year again when a pair of mallard take up
> residence on our pond. Looks very charming but they
> vandalise all the plants in baskets and eat all my frog
> and newt spawn.
>
> I am thinking about running a single strand of electric
> fence across the pond - they are certain to bump into it
> frequently - especially at night and this may deter them
> from visiting.
>
> But I dont want to find a dead duck in my pond. Anybody
> any experience of doing what I propose. The system I am
> interested in is described as " this unit will produce a
> pulsating, High Tension, low energy voltage of approx.
> 1000 Volts for up to 100 Metre spans. For electrically
> operated fences for smaller animals, poultry fences, pigs
> etc, or to keep foxes out".
>
> DAvy
======================
I wouldn't chance it. You don't want to harm other critters
that are in your pond. Nets will keep them out year round.
I was told a low fence will also, if close to the water edge.

--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }<((((*> ~~~ }<{{{{(ö>

Jim put up a deer fence around our garden. It has a regular farm
electric fence pulser. It works wonderfully. If your ducks hit the
wire, even they will get the idea that they should mess with it. Jim
says he needs to get the deer fence in place before they know there
are plants they would like in the garden. They would have no problem
jumping over it! He teaches them about it with strips of tim foil
with peanut butter on them. The deer lick them, jump about 5 ft up
and 5 ft back! He says it does not harm them, but they remember as
intensity facilitates memory! He has shocked himself (accidentally)
so he knows what it feels like. Be sure the fence cannot get into the
water.

Phyllis

One thing I should mention regarding netting and ducks. This is from an
experience with the Demo Pond. There is a small rope fence around the
perimeter of the pond to stop tots from just falling in. So we figured just
attach the netting to the top of the posts. This kept taller plants from
getting entangled just in case they started growing before we took it off.
Well that didn't work, as the duck walked under the rope and into the pond.
The next year we put the netting on top of the posts and down the sides.
Due to needing extra netting to do this we used 2 sheets over lapped and
zipped tied. Not sure what happened, since the pond is in a public area and
the public is not always well behaved, there soon was a gap between the 2
sheets. The ducks actually dropped thru and then would fly straight up when
spooked. Crafty little bas... birds. ;-)

Not sure how the demo pond committee's plan worked last year. When I went
for a visit the bird netting was on the surface in places and the plants
were intertwine. I was just glad it wasn't MY problem any more. When you're
done, you're done. ;-) ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

~ jan <Seewebsite@jjspond.us> wrote in
news:v1nhp4d9006raqigak6nc5i9ncgcsarii3@4ax.com:

> If you located where it isn't freezing a motion
sprinkler would do

Seem a bit cruel to me; wouldn't it make the ducks all
wet?
DAvy

~ jan <Seewebsite@jjspond.us> wrote in
news:cegjp4t3oebcja2cjbai3g398gk7qoh03q@4ax.com:

> One thing I should mention regarding netting and
ducks. This is from
> an experience with the Demo Pond. There is a small
rope fence around
> the perimeter of the pond to stop tots from just
falling in. So we
> figured just attach the netting to the top of the
posts. This kept
> taller plants from getting entangled just in case they
started growing
> before we took it off. Well that didn't work, as the
duck walked under
> the rope and into the pond. The next year we put the
netting on top of
> the posts and down the sides. Due to needing extra
netting to do this
> we used 2 sheets over lapped and zipped tied. Not sure
what happened,
> since the pond is in a public area and the public is
not always well
> behaved, there soon was a gap between the 2 sheets.
The ducks actually
> dropped thru and then would fly straight up when
spooked. Crafty
> little bas... birds. ;-)
>
Thanks to those who suggested netting but last year I
tried that and had many of the problems mentioned above.
Not only that but it looked ugly and prevented me
getting to the pond or even the path around.
DAvy

if not netting stretched TAUT, then a water cannon.

>Thanks to those who suggested netting but last year I
>tried that and had many of the problems mentioned above.
>Not only that but it looked ugly and prevented me
>getting to the pond or even the path around.
>DAvy

Not a fan of nets either, at least not during the growing/ponding season.
Usually though you don't have to leave on long to discourage ducks. The
demo pond's was taken off once the irrigation canals were filled.

So I went looking for this one thing that was a metal rod that swung over
the pond periodically (or perhaps it was motion activated) and found this
thing called a Daddi Long Legs:
http://www.critterri...m/birdscare.htm

Perhaps you could put it on some float? As you scroll down other
preventions are listed when I happened to think Swan Decoy. Seems Swans are
area protective and ducks steer clear? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Here is their motion detector sprinkler: http://www.critterri...m/scarecrow.htm

Jim

"JB" <jrbno@spamnoipa.net> wrote in message ...
> Davy, My condolences on the ducks. Lot's of discussion in the past on this
> subject. Here's a classic "duck" post:
> -------- Original Message --------
>>Subject: Re: Ducks and Ponds
> Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 00:09:02 +1300
>>From: IAN <ian@minidata.co.nz>
>> We have a man-made pond and wondered
>> if it is possible to buy baby duck to
>> put at the pond,
>
> Wooah Tina... Don't rush into this duck thing. I have a Peking, its a
> beautiful white innocent thing that poops in
> unbelievable quantities. Never mind about a bio-filter, you are going
> to need a sewerage system suitable for a small town to deal with what
> this duck is going to do to your pond.
>> would they stay or would they leave?
> No need to fret on this account - ducks never take the hint. Chuck `em
> it in the air and it'll come right back. Sure it will occasionally
> wander out onto the highway, but motorists would rather run off the
> road and kill all their passengers than hit a duck that's sitting looking
> right at them. Look closely at the general design of your average duck,
> notice that
> the cranium is small. It is my belief that if you could take all the duck
> brains in the world and combine them in a sort of super organic
> computer you would basically have a machine with a loose bowel and a
> vocabulary limited to: "quack". A duck is a natural born lobotomy.---
>>Would we need to put a fence around it?
> Sure, fence your duck, but it won't do you any good. You will still
> hear screeching tires on the road and the neighbors will still phone you
> up
> to say your duck is harassing their cat again. --

Priceless!!!
(knowing I'm over a week late, and some sense short!)

Thank you so much for posting this.

(By the way, racoons will kill ducks, but many
might think that 'cure' is worse than the problem.)