Crowding at Staunton duck park creates deadly encounters

By NICOLE BARBANO The News Leader
Published: May 1, 2008

STAUNTON, Va. (AP) _ When Laura Thurman made the decision to jump over the fence at Gypsy Hill Park and onto the enclosure where the ducks were, she didn’t care if people might refer to her as “the crazy duck lady” from that moment on.

As Thurman ran over to the female duck which had been pinned down under three male ducks, and saw the blood and the many plucked-off feathers, Thurman did what she said she wished she had done three weeks before, after witnessing a similar incident: She brought it to the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

“Weeks ago there were at least a dozen males,“ she said. “I just thought that’s what ducks do. But the next morning, when I saw her dead, I said that can’t be what ducks do because then, they’d all be dead.“

After Tuesday’s incident, city officials may be taking a closer look at a tradition that has brought families to the park for years.

Officials at the Wildlife Center of Virginia said Tuesday morning’s incident was one of many from Gypsy Hill Park during the past few years, most, if not all involving similar injuries to female ducks resulting from aggressive and unnatural mating situations at the park’s well-visited duck pond.

“We usually get 10 to 12 ducks from Gypsy Hill Park a year,“ said Dave McRuer, director of veterinary services. “Last year, we were able to release one of them.“

McRuer and officials with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries say that the high and artificial concentration of ducks and waterfowl at the pond is likely the cause for the exhibited aggressive mating behavior, where large numbers of male ducks will attempt to mate with the same female at the same time, severely injuring and sometimes killing them in the process.

Bob Ellis, assistant director of the wildlife division for the department, said the behavior exhibited by the male ducks, specifically the pulling off of feathers and inflicting lacerations on potential mates, was not normal.

“When they’re mating in a natural situation, you’ll see (multiple) males going after a female,“ said Ellis. “Most of the time the female will get away and a male will dominate and mate. But in close quarters like that, where the female can’t really get away and get into some vegetation ... then you end up with four or five maybe going after her and getting into that situation that you’re getting into now.“

The large population of waterfowl at the duck pond is likely attributed to the pond’s popularity; people enjoy feeding the ducks, which in turn attracts more of them.

But Ellis, McReur and Assistant City Manager Jim Halasz cautioned people about feeding waterfowl bread and snacks; in addition to attracting them, it can make them ill.

“What we’ve tried to do is provide a better alternative,“ Halasz said, referring to the pellet machines on site. “If there’s something more that needs to be done because the population is too concentrated, we need to look at that.“

Ellis said one possible solution might be to adopt an ordinance banning the feeding of waterfowl at the park, which would decrease their numbers and possibly lead to a healthier environment for the animals. The department has created a model that cities can alter to suit their needs. Halasz said it could be a possibility.

“Even though the community enjoys the ducks, certainly we want an environment that’s healthy for the animals and a concentration of animals can be unhealthy sometimes.“

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Information from: The Daily News Leader, http://www.newsleader.com

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.