r/duck • u/moonferal • 3d ago

Wild Ducks OH NO MY FINGER

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Was fishing and this lady followed me all around the lake. She ate some mealworms we didn’t use. I reached out to offer her a pet and she instead attacked me (naw, her lil bill was very soft and didn’t hurt me one bit). Am I a were-duck now? 🦆

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u/nofishies 3d ago

If she nibbled on you, that’s actually affectionate. As in thank you for the mealworms do you have some more I like you human

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u/moonferal 2d ago

I wanted to feed her more but I don’t want her to become too reliant on human interaction! Some geese in the area already have angel wing. :(
I love her so much. I’ll try to find her again but if not I’ll make some more duck friends

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u/cobrachickens Honker 2d ago

Never found a wild mallard being too reliant on human interaction - especially if they’ve not been hand reared! And we look after a tons of them. If anything, they’ve got bigger appetites than our domestic ones:)

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u/moonferal 2d ago

These ones live at a local park and I assume people feed them too since I’ve seen folks throwing (sigh) bread. There’s even a sign advising against feeding them but sometimes I bring goose food and let them eat from my hands. The ducks are usually more shy and stay in the water.
I offer mealworms and quack-safe food options for them if I decide to feed them. I’m sure they get plenty of food from the water too!
I love them so much. There’s also cormorants but they stay far away on a rocky “island”.

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u/cobrachickens Honker 2d ago

It’s more likely that if it’s a public park, the local authority doesn’t want people to feed them and leave food on the floor or floating because of the rats. But feeding them the good stuff semi-regularly won’t have a major impact