what ate my ducklings?

[gotaz]

Gooday all,
my question is , could a python eat 22, 2week old ducklings in 1 night of feeding ?

the other day i checked my little ducklings in the morning and 22were gone 5 dead and only 3 alive, there is no sign of fox or cat , not 1 bit of 'down' or feathers anywhere to be found, no creature marks inside or outside of the duckies yard to be found, just 22 ducklings missing , no blood , nothing, 2 years ago we lost 9 goslings in the night and they were locked in the shed with their parents even,
we are out in the outer western 'burbs of sydney, mostly bush all around here,
about 5years ago the bloke down the road saw a python with a black head and goldish colored body , it was over 6foot long, and I always wonder if that beast is around here somewhere still? we live on 5acres, backing onto Eastern Creek. I can't work out what happened to my ducklings, other than a python coming in

 

[bredli-sli]

simple answer is yes, get some mouse mesh to secure it..... top and bottom.

 

[pythons73]

YES however i would think its maybe a fox..They will get every baby and bury them so they have food scattered around the place..I seen a doco with this happening before..

 

[Asharee133]

t'was me...

 

[Fuscus]

If it was a python ( which i think is highly unlikely ) then there would have been no dead bodies and the python would most properly be still in the cage. My money is on a fox.

 

[giglamesh]

i really dont think a python would eat 22 in one night, especially 2 week old ducklings

 

[bredli-sli]

i really dont think a python would eat 22 in one night, especially 2 week old ducklings

i wouldnt bet on it......

 

[zuesowns]

I saw somewhere on a video that one or several of the venomous snakes will clear out a clutch of X and move on, I doubt there would be any left however...

 

[ezekiel86]

weird :S...I does not seem like a python but we all know anything goes with them...and if it was a cat it would of kill them all from what i have seen b4 and would of been a mess...same with a fox...if it was a fox, he would of taken all of them I would think ( unless he got spooked ) but even then i dont see him leaving fresh killed ones behind that he could keep stock up in places for his own takeaway at later dates
TOTALLY STUMPED if there was no tracks or marks or anything..
anyone that you know would do anything like that for any reason...? :O
If there where only missing and no dead bodys I would of thought maybe some1 was just messing around with you but mmmmm
if not take the lucky few out...leave the dead ones in there...put few other things that would bring cats n foxs or pythons..and set up your vid cam and see what or who cums back...if not just watch from house till bed then set it up..plug laptop or HD to vidcam and rec all night if needed
Keep us posted on this one
Cheers
Zeke
keep us posted keen to know...if not put few diff things in

 

[Jay84]

Not so ezekiel, unfortunately foxes do kill for sport, same with cats. This means they will kill and may not eat or take the bodies away. This usually happens when the foxes have young ones that they are teaching to hunt. Also, when i have seen poultry killed during the day, there is always down and feathers everywhere, the chickens etc obviously putting up a fight and struggle. When killed at night i have never seen any down or feathers etc, due to basically being picked off the perch.

I can't see how a python would have killed and eaten 22 2 week old ducks. Thats a HUGE meal! Also, the python would not have constricted and killed 3 others and left them??

My guess is a fox.

 

[soundfix]

Missing chickens?

I regularly get day old chickens from a near-by nursery.
In used to put them all into a unused upright steel frame pool,about 1.5 metres high.
One morning a few of the chickens were gone,seemingly dissapeared with no trace, and there was sign of a 'struggle'
Next time,the whole lot(seven), were gone.
The only evidence i ever found, were bird droppings around the edge.
Also upon closer inspection, feathers were also amonst ther grass, were the chicks were.
So after watching for some time, we saw that the butcher birds(and various others), were swoop9ing the pool carrying off my chickens. They also would attack the chicks,if they dropped them, then they would swoop and attack again.
I only ever had 2 dead bodies, he rest of the attacks were clueless.
Not sure if this helps your problem,i now dont keep them there, we have too many birds around.Cheers

 

[Acacia]

A friend of mine lost several goslings to a redbill (dusky moorhen). The parent geese apparently couldn't see the danger as the redbills shared the dam and were not threatening. The offender was not part of the group. He was bigger too, so perhaps a swamp hen??

 

[Jay84]

A friend of mine lost several goslings to a redbill (dusky moorhen). The parent geese apparently couldn't see the danger as the redbills shared the dam and were not threatening. The offender was not part of the group. He was bigger too, so perhaps a swamp hen??

There used to be a muscovy duck sharing the dam down the road with dusky moorhens (swamphens). one day the swamphen was ontop of the duck holding it underwater drowning it! I waded out and rescued the duck which then became my pet lol

 

[lithopian]

thats sad, im sorry you lost your ducklings. i love ducklings hopefully you find the perpetrator and are able to keep the rest!

 

[cris]

Just wondering how much a 2 week old duckling would weigh? Also was there any sign of how the ducklings were killed such as bite marks?

I wouldnt be too supprised if it was a python, but very hard to say without seeing first hand. It isnt that hard to keep pythons out but very easy for them to get trapped with 22 ducklings.

 

[snakelady-viper]

Could also be a large lace monitor