Here a duck, there a duck, everywhere a duck, duck may sound like a version of a popular children's nursery rhyme, but it describes the yard of one resident on South Kerens Avenue in Elkins. Barbara Nash doesn't have a farm and she doesn't find anything entertaining about the dozens of fowl who have made her property their home.
"I moved here in 2006 and at first I thought the ducks were cute," Nash said. Apparently, others thought the same thing and that has only contributed to the population problem.
According to Nash, people trespass on her property to feed the ducks and watch them. Nests and eggs can be found all across her yard making it nearly impossible to maintain a garden or a lawn because the ducks either devour or trample everything.
Getting rid of the ducks is no easy task Nash has found, and she plans to attend tonight's Elkins City Council meeting to seek help. On Wednesday, USDA Wildlife Services Northern District Supervisor Tom Elliott and Elkins Councilman Danny Satterfield, 4th Ward, paid Nash a visit to take survey of the situation.
What Nash terms as a "duck infestation" is more than just nuisance and can bring a wide variety of problems, including disease and destruction of property, according to Elliott. Feeding wild water fowl, which includes ducks, is illegal, Elliott said. Regular feeding can cause poor nutrition, spread of disease, unnatural behavior, pollution, overcrowding and delayed migration.
All of these have become a problem, according to Nash, and the birds now spend all winter around her property.
One solution would be to have the birds removed and euthanized, but the cost would be upwards of $400, Elliott said.
Nash says many of her neighbors are also concerned about the overpopulation of ducks and Elliott encourages them to attend tonight's meeting, too.
"It's a problem that needs addressed," Satterfield said.
Elkins City Council meets at 7 p.m. today in council chambers on the second floor of City Hall.
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