Ducks and Geese are some of the most common animals in the world, and we can’t really go by a day without seeing one of either of these animals. We all know of the seemingly infinite amount of poop geese leave on our sports fields and gardens, and we’ve all probably heard the trademark quack of a duck more than once. These avians populate our rivers, streams, and parks- And the funniest thing is, nothing’s stopping you from taking them home.

The first thing one must do when unpacking this strange loophole is to examine why the government is letting you take ducks and geese from the public park by your house is to acknowledge that it’s not all types of ducks you can just snatch out of the blue. Mallards, and other species of native ducks, are illegal to take from parks. But all other types of ducks and geese (African Geese, Muscovy Duck, Egyptian Goose, etc) are fair game to take as pets or hunt. Many of these ducks or geese were abandoned in parks, and many have been abused by irresponsible owners. These ducks and geese are sustained by only bread and/or tortillas, which you shouldn’t feed them, and shorten their lives by a good amount of time. Not to mention, they probably wouldn’t live that long in the first place, given they die in winter, as they are not used to the cold.

Another strange thing about ducks and geese  is how invasive species of them became so widespread. Ducks are… Well, not the first thing someone in an urban environment would consider a good pet. Strangely enough, one of the main reasons people keep ducks in cities is for popularity and social media prestige. Some mildly famous city ducks (Wrinkle The Duck, Ben Alfquack, etc.) live really good lives, but some other ducks are quite mistreated by their owners. Kids who don’t know how to take care of ducks often keep them in small cages, not feeding them the right foods, and just not taking good care of their ducks at all. These ducks end up with foot tears, broken wings, or discarded on the streets.

Finally, we have to take into account the morals of all of this. Taking ducks from parks may seem unethical and according to my Dad, disturbing anything natural could and probably would be considered unethical. But, letting these animals die could also be considered unethical. It’s like a waterfowl trolley problem, but instead of the death of 1 person, it would be the living of a bunch of ducks and geese. Not to be confused with swans, who you should never take from parks as they are rare and also extremely mean. But back to ethics, theoretically, letting the ducks die would be pretty unethical too, as the ducks and geese probably didn't want to be there either. So would it be better to let the ducks die and let nature take its course, which would be letting the ducks freeze to death or get eaten by coyotes, or interrupt the natural process to save lives?