You would think that feeding ducks by hand and raising them from the tender age of 2 days old as little peeps would create some sort of human/pet bond. You would be mistaken. In general, the ducks want very little to do with us besides the fresh water and feed we give them. They do get excited for fresh greens, and as of a month ago would greedily eat it from our hands. But alas, the ducks have become jaded and wary in their adolescent age, and now won't come within a 5' radius of us (if they can help it).
So the other day we decided to let them forage out of their fenced area, as we tend to do when we are home enjoying beverage on the patio. For reasons only to be understood by the mind of a duck, Megatron decided to make a bee-line clear across the long dimension of our back yard, all the way to the gate at the far side. Keep in mind, the ducks have never quite strayed from the relative safety of the 15' proximity of the duck house. We were surprised, Callie (our dog) was surprised, and the ducks were terrified. But, lacking the astute intellect to run away from the unknown, they ventured toward it.
It was thusly that Megatron, the smallest of the ducks, squeezed through a gap in the neighbor's fence and trespassed into a yard with three large dogs who like to eyeball the ducks often through gaps in the fence... I quickly saved the day by getting into the yard before anything happened, and the dogs seemed more curious than anything else, but this was easily the most drama that the ducks had ever experienced. Or so I can only assume.
Domesticated runner Ducks seem to have almost no predatory defense besides running/flapping, and it is amazing that their species evolved to the point of being domesticated without becoming extinct. The whole episode made me re-think the perimeter defenses of the back yard, and resulted in a sweep to make sure any holes are wired shut.
But the ducks decided after the big scare, that they were better off staying in there their house for a couple of days, thanks very much.
Eventually they came out, but the episode probably only worsened their agoraphobia and lack of human trust. Morals to the story? Not sure but it is probably this: always wire any gaps in your fence shut if you are raising panicky birds.
