Narrabeen: Residents fear duck poisoner is on loose
Residents have alerted police to a potential duck poisoner after finding sick ducks who had eaten bread that “dissolves like icing sugar”.
Manly
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Residents fear a potential duck poisoner is on the loose after “strange bread that dissolves like icing sugar” when hosed down was found in gardens near Narrabeen Lagoon.
Amanda Beale, 44, of Rosella Gardens, said someone had deliberately thrown the bread into gardens at the complex near the kayak hire shop two mornings this week.
She said she became suspicious of the bread after witnessing a duck projectile vomit after eating it and another look unwell.
When she tried to wash the bread away it “dissolved like icing sugar”.
Police confirmed they had received an animal cruelty complaint about the ducks.
A neighbour also hosed some bread away and noted it “dissolved like powder, rather than clumping”.
Then on a second occasion the bowl of fresh water Ms Beale had put out for the ducks had turned the colour of blood, leading to fears the ducks were bleeding internally.
“I don’t know whether the water was red because of duck blood or because someone had put something in it,” she said.
“I was worried that the ducks could be bleeding internally because of poison.”
Ms Beale, who works in marketing, said a couple of people in the complex leave fresh water out for the ducks as it was a nesting area.
“I have six or seven regulars who come for water,” she said.
“Up until recently we’ve had a drought and it has been hot and they’ve been very thirsty.
“They do poo and it can get quite gross which is why some people may not like them.
“I just hose the mess down around my area.
“If you are not an appreciator of nature then I can see how you might get annoyed by the poo.”
Ms Beale called the police this week and has been collecting soggy bread left in gardens, storing it in her freezer as evidence if needed.
She said anyone that would want to deliberately harm a duck was a “crooked person”.
A Northern Beaches Police spokesman confirmed it had received an animal cruelty complaint about ducks being potentially poisoned near the lagoon.
“Officers spoke to a resident about 9am on Tuesday who had seen ducks projectile vomiting after eating bread,” the spokesman said.
“They were shown pieces of bread in a water bowl and what appeared to be blood in a water bowl.
“Police did not find sick or deceased ducks at the time.”
The two sick ducks have since been located and taken to vet for blood tests.