Neighborhood Ducks Attacked with Pellet Gun

Jacquie Luke-Hayes did what she could to protect a small paddling of neighborhood ducks.

A young man with a pellet gun killed two Muscovy ducks at a retention pond between quiet Alamo and Paloma lanes (just north of San Christopher Drive) about 2 p.m. Monday.

The incident has residents calling for tougher city statutes against pellet guns.

"You’re seeing teenagers with a gun, you don’t know what kind of gun," said Jim, a neighbor who wished not to have his full name publicized out of fear of retaliation. "They could’ve hurt somebody out there. What the city needs to do is clarify: What is a firearm?"

Hayes said she swung into action when she saw four young men in their late teens or early 20s, one carrying a “big brown gun,” shooting at Muscovy ducks paddling near the Alamo Lane side of the pond, which is encircled by homes.

“I walked with the ducks to the south side of the lake, figuring they wouldn’t shoot,” Hayes said. “The police thought I was a little strange for taking that chance.”

Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies responded but found no laws had been broken. Muscovy ducks are considered an invasive species in the U.S. The young men were released. They told Hayes the ducks were killed for food.

The invasive Muscovy duck was added to The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's protected Migratory Bird Treaty Act List in March 2010 (see attached FAQ), which still allows for "landowners, State, Federal and Tribal agencies, and others to remove or destroy muscovy ducks, their nests, and eggs, anywhere outside their natural range, without a federal migratory bird permit" (50 CFR 21.54).

“I don’t think on public land it should be done,” Hayes said. “There are houses all around there. It’s not like it’s out in the wild.”

Residents say the pond is also a gathering place for other bird species, turtles, an alligator and other animals.

"Those ducks aren't hurting anything out there," Jim said. "They are a nuisance, but they’re part of the wildlife out there; there’s nothing you can do about it."