# Is it safe to kill and eat a duck from the local park? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2002, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371 "2002-06-04T21:10:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/21 "2002-06-05T05:29:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WiseOldMan \* > \*\*Stick to the pigeons, they have fewer supporters. \*\* Exactly. Ducks aren’t pests, but pigeons are. Pigeons are definitely edible. No city in the world is going to fine you for (humanely) removing a few. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/22 "2002-06-05T05:38:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ageless6 \* > \*\*Mango: > > Get a high powered rifle and pop it right between the eyes. \*\* A high powered rifle ruins too much meat. My coworker, who raises a steer now and then uses a .22 pistol with a Long Rifle load in the manner you describe. ---
**Author:** ![domesticatedjunglefowl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@domesticatedjunglefowl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/domesticatedjunglefowl)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/23 "2002-06-05T15:40:52Z")
posted by Rhum Runner “If you just want to experience the killing of a helpless animal, you could probably buy a duck or chicken from a farmer and just take it home and kill it with a knife or ax. You could also get a rabbit from a pet store. (Hmmmm, floppy-eared rabbit stew) That way you would not have the legal issues to worry about.” * * * The reasons behind my wanting to kill and eat a duck are culinary and economical, not sadism.I can get away with picking berries of of trees at the park, why not picking off some ducks while i’m at it? By the way, I don’t like the taste or texture of rabbit. Besides, there aren’t any docile , easy to catch rabbits at the park. (hmmm…Killing rabbits and Ducks…Insert Elmer Fudd joke here) * * * posted by GopherGod 72 “I’ve done a lot of duck hunting… sometimes they dont die so easily. How you gonna kill one?” Bread crumbs and my bare hands. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/24 "2002-06-05T16:26:21Z")
Umm, why don’t we get off the “don’t do it!” legal/moral ramifications, and go strictly to safety issues, _per the OP_. Here’s the implausible situation, then: Every single human being is evacuated from Manhattan because of a phony terrorist threat. They take all the food with them. Sadly, you, you lazy slob, pulled a mild Rumplestiltskin and managed to sleep through all the hub-bub. Now you find yourself in Central Park one morning, hungry as all git-out, and with nothing to eat except the ducks in the pond. Fortunately, you are an accomplished duck hunter, and have the appropriate firearms to dispatch the creatures. NOW… will you get sick from eating said ducks? ---
**Author:** ![domesticatedjunglefowl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@domesticatedjunglefowl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/domesticatedjunglefowl)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/25 "2002-06-05T16:35:49Z")
Thank you… ---
**Author:** ![kryptonite2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/85e7bf/32.png) [@kryptonite2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kryptonite2)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/26 "2002-06-05T16:41:33Z")
this thread title had me laughing so i had to contribute. i think a good air rifle with some pellets would be an effective way to off a duck. maybe a scope too if you want to shoot from the shrubbery to avoid being seen by park-goers. stay away from pond ducks… wouldn’t touch anything that came from a small pond. look at the water and decide if you would eat a fish from there. ducks feed off the plants, bugs, and animals growing in the water. i would stick to a state park or something where people go to fish. can’t be too hard to find in oregon. maybe you can practice on public park ducks (more docile and approachable) and move onto wilder(and less poisonous) ducks. my 2 cents. ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/27 "2002-06-05T17:47:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangomerlot \* > \*\*The reasons behind my wanting to kill and eat a duck are culinary and economical, not sadism.I can get away with picking berries of of trees at the park, why not picking off some ducks while i’m at it? > By the way, I don’t like the taste or texture of rabbit. Besides, there aren’t any docile , easy to catch rabbits at the park. (hmmm…Killing rabbits and Ducks…Insert Elmer Fudd joke here) \*\* I guess I misread your earlier post re hypocrisy to mean that you felt you had to kill at least one animal yourself in order to justify eating meat in the future or something like that… and by the way I don’t think killing an animal is sadistic, but that is probably another story. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/28 "2002-06-05T20:22:35Z")
Duck season? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/29 "2002-06-05T20:45:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duckster \* > > \*\*We know who you are and the alarm has been quacked! 😃 \*\* Did it echo? ---
**Author:** ![domesticatedjunglefowl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@domesticatedjunglefowl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/domesticatedjunglefowl)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/30 "2002-06-05T21:29:10Z")
next question, canard l’orange or peking duck? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2002, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/31 "2002-06-05T22:31:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by partly\_warmer \* > \*\*Exactly. Ducks aren’t pests, but pigeons are. Pigeons are definitely edible. No city in the world is going to fine you for (humanely) removing a few. \*\* Ducks aren’t pests? You obviously haven’t lived in a neighborhood overrun by them. I have and they were overturning garbage cans strewing garbage everyone, their rotting carcasses lined the road, and chasing pets around. They were essentially rats the size of small dogs that could fly in a pinch. Fortunately animal control took care of them in my neighborhood a few years ago and they haven’t made a comeback yet. As for actually killing and eating one of them, I don’t know what breed of ducks you have but the ones that run wild here in south Florida do not make for good eating. They’re greesy and stringy and you’ll be much happier just buying a well fed one from the market. You can eat one of them safely much like you could eat a fish you catch in the lake at the park but it’s just not worth it. ---
**Author:** ![dono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@dono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dono)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/32 "2002-06-06T02:30:21Z")
**toadspittle** , I can understand that you want to separate the moral arguments from this thread. I’m not a vegetarian, I’m a notorious carnivore, and a hunter as well. But I thought this board had a policy against encouraging illegal acts. **mangomerlot** , unless you’re talking about killing your duck during open hunting seasons, and you buy a duck license under your state hunting laws, and you buy a Federal Duck Stamp (and I don’t think you are), what you’re talking about is illegal - it’s called poaching. And even if you did all that, I still think you’d be in violation of your state’s “fair take” game regulations. ---
**Author:** ![domesticatedjunglefowl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@domesticatedjunglefowl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/domesticatedjunglefowl)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/33 "2002-06-06T14:21:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangomerlot \* > \*\*I know there are legal repercussions if I am caught killing ducks at the park, but would it be safe to eat one if cooked properly? \*\* As you can see from my op I know that there are legal repercussions. That is an obvious fact. I was curious about the health issues of eating a city duck. From what I have gathered from this post, I should persue rural fowl because their urban bretheren are likely to be of either: a) a poorer quality of meat b) more likely to be disease ridden. This has got me wondering about something that would be an OP for another thread; Is urban long-pork as safe to eat as their slack-jawed, rural , and ‘wild’ bretheren? (I am asking in jest by the way.) ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/34 "2002-06-06T14:37:17Z")
**dono** –granted re: illegal acts, but the OP sure seemed tongue-in-cheek to me. Maybe I’m juts too flip in general. After all, the SD also has a fine tradition of asking questions re: blowing up the moon, which I think a number of people around the world might find objectionable and/or illegal (is there a statute against destroying a heavenly body? now there’s a question). Besides, he wasn’t asking “how would I go about killing a city duck,” but rather “what would be the effects of eating a city duck”–just like, “how would I build a pipe bomb at home” vs. “if someone blew up a pipe bomb across the street from me, what are my chances of survival?” etc., in my book. ---
**Author:** ![dono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@dono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dono)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/35 "2002-06-06T14:45:05Z")
OK, good points, both of you. I’ll quit being such a stick-in-the-mud now. Long as you’re just kidding around. ---
**Author:** ![GopherGod72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f0a364/32.png) [@GopherGod72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GopherGod72)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/36 "2002-06-06T23:33:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dono \* > \*\*OK, good points, both of you. I’ll quit being such a stick-in-the-mud now. > > Long as you’re just kidding around. \*\* Well, I was going to stay out of it. But with that statement I feel like I almost NEED to go kill a duck just to say HA! ---
**Author:** ![TwoBuyFour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/76d3ee/32.png) [@TwoBuyFour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoBuyFour)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/37 "2002-06-06T23:53:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JThunder \* > \*\*Duck season? \*\* No, no, no. It’s BASEBALL season! BTW, if you’re aiming to kill a Mighty Duck, you’re probably going to need more than a .22, and for the record, I have no idea how one would taste. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371/38 "2002-06-07T00:31:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by toadspittle \* > **\ is there a statute against destroying a heavenly body? now there’s a question \** My guess: Specifically, no, _but_ since the UN treaty says that the Moon belongs to everyone, a good lawyer could make the case that the treaty _does_ prohibit one from blowing up the Moon. However, you _can_ expect statues to be written shortly after someone does manage to blow up a heavenly body! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-kill-and-eat-a-duck-from-the-local-park/112371.md?page=1)