duck poop

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irvinenewbie

0
Oct 9, 2009
54
Southern CA
Ducks have been around the pool for more than a month. I chase them away, they come back. I just deal with the mess they make on the deck. This morning I woke up to lots of poop in the pool in addition to the deck mess. Chlorine demand has been increasing (which i couldn't figure out why), FC has dipped down below range a couple of times between testing. but pool has been clear, CC has been zero until today.
FC went from 7.5-6 in one day. CC was 0.5 today. first time taking care of the pool in the summer, therefore no records of normal chlorine demand for previous summers.

what now? shock? keep FC at a higher than recommended level?
even after shocking, ducks will be back. i'm just pouring chlorine down the drain. i haven't found any success in keeping them out. any help and advice is appreciated.
 
I cannot find the thread on here but I seem to remember seeing a post that mentioned that you could place strings (twine or something similar) stretched across the surface of the pool and tied in such a fashion where they crisscrossed the pool in various places for a few days to get them to leave. There's something about the strings that makes them not like the pool, I guess because they would get in their way when landing or paddling about. Eventually, they will move on and look for another place.

As for the poop in the pool, you'll just have to vacuum it out of there and watch your FC more closely.
 
Melt In The Sun said:
Pellet gun, followed by barbecue. Repeat as necessary! :cheers:
Click to expand...

That's sunday post church entertainment around here...are you sure you live in AZ???

My suggestion is get yourself some plastic owls...

We have geese that seem to like our pool on their migration pattern. I'm telling you that goose poop in the pool is HORRID...it almost looks human sometimes. We have an owl that is more like a pet..we move it every day or so. This is the first year I haven't had to scoop daily. Now, keep in mind it's always May that we have trouble and there's still two weeks left.

So far so good.

Owls. Behind my submersible pump, the second best household purchase suggestion my dad ever gave me..
 
257 said:
.....I seem to remember seeing a post that mentioned that you could place strings (twine or something similar) stretched across the surface of the pool and tied in such a fashion where they crisscrossed the pool in various places for a few days to get them to leave. There's something about the strings that makes them not like the pool, I guess because they would get in their way when landing or paddling about. Eventually, they will move on and look for another place
Click to expand...

Is this the one? JohnT is the poster of the fishing line suggestion........(crisscrossing overhead)

ducks-t13202.html?hilit=ducks
 
Yeah, as mentioned in the thread linked above, it's probably not legal to shoot them. But, the likelihood of your neighbors reporting you is slight, especially if the ducks leave little greasy presents on their property as well.

For example, I'm 99% sure it is illegal for me to shoot at Gilded Flickers (large, obnoxious, common woodpeckers) in my backyard. I don't worry about my neighbors seeing me, because they all get holes pecked in their stucco too! They would probably thank me, especially if I could ever get one!
 
Thanks for all the replies. Did half of the pool with strings (ran out). When I came back to finish the other half, found a pair of ducks sitting on the deck. New poop in the pool and on the deck! Hope the string trick will work. I'll get out some tennis balls too. although it'll be hard to aim with all the strings on top. :)
 

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We are dealing with the same problem over here in ohio. In fact last year one of the females laid an EGG on the side of the pool! :hammer: Luckily we only have one pair visiting us, but let us know how the sting thing works, we may have to resort to something like that here.
 
Melt In The Sun said:
it's probably not legal to shoot them.
Click to expand...

Only when they are in season (not now) and with a license, a migratory bird stamp, a state waterfowl stamp, a federal stamp, and with non-toxic shot. :mrgreen:
 
We have a mallard pair that has taken over the kiddie pool at our neighborhood pool. I am fairly sure that when the swim season really gets into swing, they will find another place to be.
 
Try, this, I have ducks a couple times a week, my friend had ducks all spring till he did this.

Go to the dollar store and get some rubber snakes, put them around the pool on the decking. Apparently they don't like snakes and will stay away.
 
I'm reading this... and thinking about a pair of ducks that have been around when the cover of the pool has water in it.

When we moved into the house in November, I found 3 plastic owls, a plastic alligator, a lizard, and a box of rubber snakes. I thought the older gentleman who had lived here liked to play tricks w/ the kids.

Now I'm wondering what I'm in for. There is a creek nearby, and I can hear ducks and geese through the bushes. :shock:

We have a Shih-Tzu. I'm sure she'd love to chase the ducks. :mrgreen: We'll have to see what happens.
 
mkenyon2 said:
I'm reading this... and thinking about a pair of ducks that have been around when the cover of the pool has water in it.

When we moved into the house in November, I found 3 plastic owls, a plastic alligator, a lizard, and a box of rubber snakes. I thought the older gentleman who had lived here liked to play tricks w/ the kids.

Now I'm wondering what I'm in for. There is a creek nearby, and I can hear ducks and geese through the bushes. :shock:

We have a Shih-Tzu. I'm sure she'd love to chase the ducks. :mrgreen: We'll have to see what happens.
Click to expand...
:shock: :lol: :lol: Please keep us posted!
 
Molson said:
Try, this, I have ducks a couple times a week, my friend had ducks all spring till he did this.

Go to the dollar store and get some rubber snakes, put them around the pool on the decking. Apparently they don't like snakes and will stay away.
Click to expand...
This reminds me of my unusual experience with ducks this year.

After nearly exasperating myself last year trying to get rid of them, I finally found a most effective solution by chance: A leaf rake on the end of a long pole can be a very effective weapon against them. :twisted:

So as soon as I saw them this year, I got my rig ready for some duck catchin, but missed a couple of times. Finally, I got VERY close to snagging one out of the air. Almost got the bugger. So I had a better idea: I left the pole/leaf rake on the deck for even easier access and by golly they haven't been back since. It may be pure coincidence, but I like to think they fly over, spot that pole, and fly the other way... :lol:
 
Love all the ideas. My pool now looks like a spider web! Don't know about the ducks yet, but found a dead bird in the pool. :cry:

on a side note, when you shock, do you keep the pump running until the process is complete?

redid FC and CC today. Still losing 1.5ppm of FC per day, but CC today is 0 (yesterday was 0.5). Am I right to assume that it's a borderline situation where I don't have to shock just yet?
 
When you are shocking, you run the pump until the process is complete. Losing FC during the day is understandable and expected, but whether you are losing FC overnight or not determines whether you are finished shocking. If you are losing less than 1 ppm of FC overnight (from after the sun is down until before the sun hits the water in the morning) then you are finished shocking.

So your pool looks like a spider web huh? I'd almost like to see that. :-D The birds and the neighbors are probably both confused. :lol:
 

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