# Why would a mama duck put up with this crap? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 7, 2007, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-mama-duck-put-up-with-this-crap/403171 "2007-05-07T23:38:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-mama-duck-put-up-with-this-crap/403171/1 "2007-05-07T23:38:25Z")
The other day, I noticed a male mallard duck, a female duck and a lone duckling together. That’s pretty weird in and of itself, because the males generally split long before the eggs are even hatched. What was weirder still is that, as I watched them yesterday, the male made repeated attempts to attack the duckling. The weirdest part was that the female didn’t chase him off or really show much displeasure at all. She seemed content to defend her duckling from the male’s attacks and then go about her business. What’s up with that? I looked for the three today. But none of the pairs that I saw had a duckling in tow. I think that male finally succeeded. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-mama-duck-put-up-with-this-crap/403171/2 "2007-05-08T02:42:59Z")
Ducks are stupid. they pretty well just follow instinct. I once saw 5 male ducks essentially gang raping a dead female. Why didnt the female protect her young better? I presume she isnt programmed to. In lions once the male takes over a pride they often kill the existing young cubs and the females dont protest much. A female duck often has the choice of trying to protect her young against an outside threat or getting hurt or killed herself. It may be better in some cases to sacrifice the young and start again if it is early in the season. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-mama-duck-put-up-with-this-crap/403171/3 "2007-05-08T20:58:19Z")
Maybe the male duck was an older sibling? ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-mama-duck-put-up-with-this-crap/403171/4 "2007-05-08T21:04:04Z")
[QUOTE=scm1001] Ducks are stupid. they pretty well just follow instinct. I once saw 5 male ducks essentially gang raping a dead female. [/QUOTE] [Or a dead male.](http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,9865,1432991,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-mama-duck-put-up-with-this-crap/403171/5 "2007-05-08T21:41:38Z")
Ducks are pretty bad parents, unfortunately. Ducklings at a lake that we frequented were often seagull snacks and the mama ducks didn’t even seem to notice sometimes. The gulls didn’t dare try that with the Canada geese, though. They travel in groups and there is always someone on lookout duty. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-mama-duck-put-up-with-this-crap/403171/6 "2007-05-09T00:04:13Z")
But ducks are good at breeding which is all that matters. Their survival strategy is too have lots of ducklings, and if one survives each year to adulthood they are doing OK. Putting too much effort into one duckling is not good sense. Good parents are a result of low breeding rate ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-mama-duck-put-up-with-this-crap/403171/7 "2007-05-09T01:21:32Z")
[QUOTE=Snooooopy] The other day, I noticed a male mallard duck, a female duck and a lone duckling together. That’s pretty weird in and of itself, because the males generally split long before the eggs are even hatched. What was weirder still is that, as I watched them yesterday, the male made repeated attempts to attack the duckling. The weirdest part was that the female didn’t chase him off or really show much displeasure at all. [/QUOTE] It probably wasn’t his offspring and he wanted some of his own. I’ve seen this behavior in birds before on several nature programs.