proof pike attack ducklings

[Emma two]

I have never ever seen it! If it wasn't for footage and accounts such as this I would have to say its a wives tale! Wonder why?

 

Perhaps you have just been 'unducky' or were 'ducking' in another direction each time it happened? its really not an old wives teal henestly those of us who have seen it are not quackers, honestly! (the possibilities are endless )

[Dave H]

I have seen much of it in my travels. The falcons try to take any bird it can and I spend 50% of my time over lakes and ponds. The falcons will hit them in the air as they rise but the hawks will try to take them off the islands. So quite often they drop out of the sky into the lakes well you can imagine a half killed duck struggling in the water.

Twice in ten years I have seen it with good sized birds. Once my falcon wacked a hen pheasant but it spiralled almost horizontal and ended about 40ft away from the bank in Ardingly reservoir. It was just too far out for me to try and dispatch it so I hoped it would drown quickly. After 10 minutes it was still thrashing about and then it disappeared and that was that. One hen pheasant.

 

Another time My Red Tailed Hawk chased a Moorhen into a large trout lake. The hawk ended up on a tiny island coming down trying to scoop it up but then returning. The Moorhen as other birds who are water birds know that if they stay in the middle of a lake or pond and stay put they will be safe. If they go near the banks they will be killed and certainly if they fly off they will probably. So a little group of moorhens and a duck just stuck together in the centre. In this situation it’s just a Mexican stand off. It is hard to get the bird back once it has locked onto a quarry.

 

Well, I sat there for a good 20 minutes and neither side were going to budge. Then, up popped a gigantic mouth and took the whole Moorhen down. This freaked the rest and a flew off and the bird gave chase but missed. So I owed the pike a favour really but on both occasions they must have been very big pike

[Emma two]

One summer evening a couple of years ago I was lure fishing for stripeys (june or july, so at the height of the Perch ("season " ). when I noticed a dot in the distance, it was on the surface of the water and heading towards me showing a clear bow wave on the mill pond like lake. the dot got closer and closer coming straight for me until it reached my shore when I saw it was a mouse, it climbed onto a large stone, gave itself a shake abd doubled away into the undergrowth. It must have swam the whole width of the lake, which at that point is about 3/4 of a mile. on that opposite shore a party in the open was under way, bbq, music and lots of laughter, I imagine that the little creature had been so disturbed by all that, and an epic swim was preferable. I wouldn't have put money on the mouse making it, especially on a night like that when it's surface disturbance would have been so noticable and the fact that surace lures work so consistantly well on that water on evenings like that.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Emma two

[Tigger]

And people moan about birds eating fish, I reckon Cormorants will get some payback

[jack1432]

How about this one then?

 

Youtube Video ->

 

I cant imagen the carp would of eaten it. Would it?

[Phone]

jack1432,

 

Maybe started out as a tasty tidbit on the web feet of the duck(s). I too doubt if a carp would consume a live duckling. Might inadvertently drown it - days later it would be fair game.

 

Phone

Can't say for sure though?

 

BUDGIE, While not undocumented I don't think it is a "common" affair. I've only seen it as a sequence of events by snakes.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Phone

[Tony U]

I have seen a Brown Trout take Moorhen and Coot chicks on more than one occasion; so it's not just Pike.

[Steve Walker]

I cant imagen the carp would of eaten it. Would it?

 

Most fish will eat anything animal that they can get in their gob - I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

[azrael]

I have seen a dogs leg ripped clean off . It was rolled like a croc until it came off. It was terrible!

 

that must have been very shocking to watch and it is a very serious issue that people do not think about when they throw sticks in to the water for the dogs to chase after

 

they will not be laughing when a big pike eats there dog

 

there is also the danger of the eels swimming up the dogs end hole and eating its way out of the intestines

 

people should think about how dangerous fish are and act responsable around them

[Dick Dastardly]

that must have been very shocking to watch and it is a very serious issue that people do not think about when they throw sticks in to the water for the dogs to chase after

 

they will not be laughing when a big pike eats there dog

 

there is also the danger of the eels swimming up the dogs end hole and eating its way out of the intestines

 

people should think about how dangerous fish are and act responsable around them

 

 

Thats rubbish! this is how eels attack dogs-

 

Edited February 15, 2012 by BUDGIE