Ducks on Swim Platform

Recently, a family of ducks have decided to spend their evenings on my swim platform with the inevitable results. The boat is on a mooring. I tried the Owl decoy and that seemed to work initially, but now I'm afraid they have accepted his presence.
I'm thinking of some kind of transom netting.

Anybody find something that works?

MacDuff said:

Recently, a family of ducks have decided to spend their evenings on my swim platform with the inevitable results. The boat is on a mooring. I tried the Owl decoy and that seemed to work initially, but now I'm afraid they have accepted his presence.
I'm thinking of some kind of transom netting.

Anybody find something that works?

Click to expand...

Ducks love my marina neighbour swim platform too, they are so cute, and fortunately they prefer HIS swim platform

!

Friends in Ft Myers hooked up a lawn sprinkler to a motion detector. Took a while but the ducks eventually got the message.

High Wire said:

Friends in Ft Myers hooked up a lawn sprinkler to a motion detector. Took a while but the ducks eventually got the message.

Click to expand...

Odd,remembering the expression "like a duck to water"?
Over here, one name for a swimstep is a "duckboard".

Christmas tinsel garland strung across the platform worked for me. And looked appropriate in December!

Is someone locally feeding them? We had a huge problem with ducks on the marina dock for a few years. Ducks were everywhere around the marina and frequently on the docks at night. This year, a boat that had been there for 10 years didn't come back. Low and behold, we have a significant (75-80%) reduction in ducks and duck crap on the dock.

It turned out the lady on the boat that didn't return was feeding them.

Go by a construction site and ask for the proper length of the orange construction fence. Hang across swim platform and tie to stern cleats . Stopped my problem, and the ducks moved on to the next boat. Several boat have it on the stern in my canal

Orchard netting worked for me. Once you train them not to go there they find another favorite place so the netting does not need to be permanent.

Get a cat or Jack Russell terrier. They work great on keeping otters away too.

Been there, cleaned that up.

Deer netting from the local home improvement store worked for us. Tied it to the stern rail and let it droop over the edge of the swim platform. The nice thing about it is that from a distance you hardly notice it. Crushes into a small bundle for stowage when we are underway.

Good Luck,

Gene

I've got a Cajun solution....

I like the cajun solution
16 more days and I will have some teal in the pot

ragin cajun said:

I've got a Cajun solution....View attachment 80303

Click to expand...

Recently had that same problem....What worked was a Plastic Eagle with a motion sensor on it that would make some predatory sound and the eyes would light up red when triggered. I lthink it was $20 on Amazon. Not really a very high quality item, but it worked like a champ to scare off the ducks. Solar powered too so would be great for a mooring situation..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DWFS8B1/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

ragin cajun said:

I've got a Cajun solution....View attachment 80303

Click to expand...

I've been waiting for this solution.
Ted

Ducks here favor a neighbor's swim platform. Fortunately, mine folds up.

Shrew said:

Is someone locally feeding them? We had a huge problem with ducks on the marina dock for a few years. Ducks were everywhere around the marina and frequently on the docks at night. This year, a boat that had been there for 10 years didn't come back. Low and behold, we have a significant (75-80%) reduction in ducks and duck crap on the dock.

It turned out the lady on the boat that didn't return was feeding them.

Click to expand...

I've never seen anybody feed them. They come back after dark.


I'm headed towards netting.

Ducks go well with potatoes and carrots too. Suggested with a white wine.

A neighbor floats a couple of these behind his platform. I keep one that I randomly move from hanging behind the dinghy to from the flybridge. Seems to keep them away.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QUWTS0

At home I have some of these hung from 3m outdoor decoration hanging hooks. Again, moving them now and then to avoid the birds getting used to them.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F92LB2/

I have heard from a friend that a .22 cal subsonic short makes a fairly quiet "pop" and easily converts most eatable waterfowl to the Cajun pot-style dinner.

At our marina Christmas Party some wag laid a breadcrumb trail leading into an open Meridian 341. Ducks went inside but struggled to get out,wingspan looked surprisingly impressive when one tried to exit thru the cockpit clears.

Lots of choices here....

https://www.birdcontrolpro.com/all-products-duck.htm

My friend had that problem and tied mono filament line from the stern to 2 pieces of PVC he had on the platform. No ducks, not unsightly mess!

Bird b gone metal spider
They come up to 8’ diameter

Had seagulls all over my bow and hardtop. Made an asbolute mess. Bought 2 of these spiders

Works immediately

As soon as I walked away birds tried to land and flared away. Zero mess now

Around here we use plastic snakes: leave them sunning on the 'duck board' and ducks-be-gone. Plastic alligators work too, used around or in swimming pools. $2.

Put some garden netting up last week. I'll check on it tomorrow. We'll see!

We have recently had great success, first with swallows/swifts (?} perching on a lifeline; and, this week, with a family of Indian Miners (?) on steps leading to our dock. It appears birds get into habits of frequenting particularly suitable places. If you can break that habit, they seem to be happy to find elsewhere. We achieved that by stringing-up a few lines of nylon fishing line across the area. This was easy with the lifeline problem but with the steps has been a bit of a nuisance for the past few days, and required a bit of care ........but it has worked!!! We hope it is a more or less permanent solution. We will remove the line soon. Eddie

ragin cajun said:

I've got a Cajun solution....View attachment 80303

Click to expand...

turducken

Use your boat more. Ducks can roost on your swim step if you are out cruising.

No duck problems in my marina!