This is more Outdoors related, and not about Hunting. We've been trying for years to get some wood ducks to call our pond home. We have no intention of hunting them, or trapping them, or doing anything illegal. We simply enjoy looking out of our house and seeing ducks on the pond. Honestly, I'm not even a hunter. I came to this forum through recommendation from a friend. I have put up boxes, researched the TPWD website, and read this;

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_1045.pdf

Long story short, I finally have a pair that are nesting. I believe they are nesting in a natural tree cavity (wish they were in my boxes but oh well).

Anyways, I want the ducklings to survive. I don't have very good cover areas for them. If you look at this map I drew up you can see where I want the coverage in what I call the "hang out areas".

https://ibb.co/Hn3mxF9

These areas are two mucky parts of the pond where they like to dabble on stuff and what not. 1 foot deep at max, mucky bottom. Main pond is 16 feet deep. The male is in these spots often, female comes from nest every once in awhile. I believe this is where she will lead her brood once they hatch, and I want the ducklings to have some suitable coverage. We've got coon issues (trapping/relocation in progress) and rat snake issues. As well as coyotes.

What native aquatic vegetation can I put back in these two coves to provide some coverage for the ducklings? I'm afraid of just ordering some japanese millet and throwing it out there because of fear of it taking over my pond. Cattails and sedge grasses seem nice as they are already there, but will introducing new plants disrupt anything or make it spread more? How can I prevent this?

Thanks guys

Think predation makes up for close to 85% of ducks dying. There is not a whole lot you can do except kill every turtle raccoon fox coyote predator bird and large fish that you see to help them survive. Nature is a cruel world.

Good luck

^ ^ ^ ^ this ^ ^ ^ ^
Some time ago a state biologist at a WMA I was hunting at
was talking to me about how they were trying to re-establish
the eastern turkeys, and that the biggest obstacle was the
predators eating the eggs and killing the nesting hens and
killing the mature birds on the roost.

If you want to have a population of any kind of food/prey
birds or animals, you'll have to actively kill the predator
animals, or bring in someone who can.
Carrying them down the road and releasing them is wasting
your time. Just me- I'd rather have game birds and wabbits
and squirrels and such than a bunch of varmints. The neighbor's
livestock thinks so too.

I am not relocating the raccoons just down the road. I am relocating them to another property some 60 miles away. I am actively erradicating all other predators via .22 and .410.

Any advice on killing off turtles? We do have lots of them, yet it never crossed my mind that they'd snatch a duckling right off the top water.

Thanks

Use a 22 mag on turtles…kill em all

Button brush is what wood ducks use for cover more than anything else around water.

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