Ducks get new homes thanks to Boy Scouts

Boy scouts from Yorkton and Melville had the chance to learn a bit about nature and help out some ducks in the process. The group built and installed nests for mallard ducks at the Ravine Ecological Preserve.

Jesse Nielsen with the Assiniboine Watershed Authority explains that the program came about thanks to a grant called the Go Wild grant, to celebrate Canada’s 150th. The purpose of the grant was to do some wildlife related project and get some community involvement in the process.

The scouts built the nests themselves, rolling out the wire and the flax, putting it together and getting the structures built. The scouts were a natural fit for the project, Nielsen says, because they’re also about getting outdoors, and it was a way to teach kids about nature and do an outdoor project.

The nests are a tunnel, designed to reduce the amount of predation. The other advantage over a traditional nest is that only mallard ducks actually like to use, so there’s no risk of other birds also trying to use the nest for their own. An added advantage is that it’s a way to keep predators away.

“The crows and that, they haven’t figured out that there’s something inside the tunnel.”

One of the scouts was Ethan Latimer, who thought the program was “pretty awesome.” Latimer learned how to make the nests, as well as more about nature in Saskatchewan, including how rivers are connected in the province. It was a good day for the scouts, and Latimer was happy to participate in the program.

“I think many people should do this, it’s quite an experience.”