# Darted Duck



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

I got in a male Mallard about 7 PM last night that had a dart going into the corner of one eye. I was able to remove the dart this morning, and the duck seems to be no worse for the wear. He is happily pigging out and preening in a small enclosure in the back yard since removal of the dart. 

The kindly lady who brought him to me said he is the third one she has found at her condo complex that has been darted. Obviously there is some cruel cretin living there 

There was a tiny bit of bloody discharge when the dart came out, but that cleared up within minutes, and I'm pretty sure there is no lasting damage. I will keep an eye on the duck for another day or so and then release him at the duck pond if all is well.

Here's a couple of links to pictures. They are not particularly pleasant but aren't horrific either. Look at your own risk.

Darted Duck

The Dart

All in all, this was a pretty lucky duck!

Terry


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

That is a nasty Dart! There are a lot of screwed up people out there.
Did you call fish and Wild Life? THAT is a Federal Offence, mallards are migratory. Dave


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Oh...my....how incredibly cruel. 

I'm glad you were able to get the dart out of his eye.

Is his eyesight affected?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

HOLY CRAP!! THAT's awful....
I hope they can catch the person doing this. What jerks!!


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## moonshadow13 (Dec 13, 2008)

I don't know if this will help but my husband thinks that is a blow gun dart. I know that doesn't make the duck feel any better but it might give the people at the condo complex something to watch out for.


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

Your husband is right, I have a 15 year old, and an 18 year old, every time they asked, i said, NO! They also want a machine gun, and i am still making my decision on that one. Dave


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Terry, I guess by now we shouldn't be surprised at the cruelty we sometimes see people inflict on creatures who can't help themselves. This is pretty horrible. I hope it didn't damage his brain going in as far as it did. 

I really hope there is a special kind of hell for people who do things like this.


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

Yes there is it is called HELL! Sorry, LOL! Dave


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## Guest (Feb 21, 2009)

holy hell that duck is lucky to be alive ,some people can sure be total a$$holes if you ask me


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## teebo (Jul 7, 2006)

people are so damn cruel,wish they could find the jacka** and stick one in his/her eye and see how much they like it.And i wanna be there to watch,it just really angers me .


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Thanks for reading and commiserating, everyone. Also thanks for the blowgun tip. I hadn't had any time to go looking for what type of "weapon" might have been used, but did just now .. looks like a blowgun using target darts is it. 

The finder of this duck just called, and I passed on the blowgun info as well as my suggestions for how to try and stop this from happening as well as for catching the perp in the process.

I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, the duck seems to be doing fine. I'll update on his condition tomorrow. If he's good to go, then he will be released at the duck pond, and if not, then I have to take him to the wildlife center as my legal time for having him will have run out.

Terry


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

The duck is doing very well and will be released tomorrow at the duck pond. The left eye where the dart was is still a little bit squinty, and he was not cooperative is letting me get a picture of that side.



















Terry


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## Guest (Feb 22, 2009)

I am so glad to hear this duck is doing so well squinty or not  I have always been a duck lover thru an thru so its nice to see hes getting back to his life at the pond


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

The lady who rescued this one just called to check on him. She is thrilled that he is doing so well. We debated on whether to release him back where he came from (and where he got darted) or to put him at the duck pond. The duck pond won though he can certainly return to where he came from easily enough if he wants to .. it's less than 5 miles from the duck pond.

Terry


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## Guest (Feb 22, 2009)

I agree with you there no need to put his life back in jepardy like that and the pond has many friends of his own species too so I would say thata a winner of places to be if you ask me


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## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

TAWhatley said:


> The lady who rescued this one just called to check on him. She is thrilled that he is doing so well. We debated on whether to release him back where he came from (and where he got darted) or to put him at the duck pond. The duck pond won though he can certainly return to where he came from easily enough if he wants to .. it's less than 5 miles from the duck pond.
> 
> Terry


Well done with the rescue, Terry. Looking at the length of that dart, its quite a miracle that the long spike wasn't embedded in his brain or something. What a little trooper he is!


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## altgirl35 (Sep 5, 2008)

THAT IS AWFUL!! i would call us fish and wildlife, that's illegal and i hope they can at least go there so the creep who did this finds out he could be in big trouble if he's caught, which he probobly won't be but maybe he will at least stop.
not sure if that's a legal thing to use even during icky hunting season.
no sign of infection is there?? i would give him a round just in case if i was you


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Our Department Of Fish and Game as well as U.S. Fish and Wildlife will be contacted regarding this duck/situation by the rescuer. She is quite upset over this, and I know she will do everything she can to put a stop to this cruel behavior.

There is no sign of infection or other problems, but I guess I will err on the side of caution and take the duck to the wildlife center tomorrow where he can go through a course of antibiotics or at least be closely observed for a few more days. Once I found out that the weather is turning bad here again, I held off on taking him to the duck pond today. I also found two dead ducks at the pond yesterday which was hugely upsetting. Both were domestics. One appeared to have drowned due to mating season aggression and other was most likely attacked by a dog that broke his back.

Terry


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## bluebirdsnfur (Jan 20, 2009)

I hate how some humans delight in seeing animals react to pain, and a lot of the time it's kids!  I do believe what goes around, comes around! 

Really glad lucky ducky survived his ordeal but very sorry to hear about the other two pond residents


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Ugh, how awful you found the two dead. Duck mating season is nature showing a cruel side! It's really just horrible. I'm glad the dart duck is so much better.


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