Mistake #2

LOVING THE DUCKLING, NOT THE DUCK

While ducklings are difficult to resist, that baby stage is very fleeting. Those tiny creatures will grow 10 times in size, sometimes to the proportions of a lapdog or large cat. That means they need a lot more room and food than they did when they fit into the palm of your hand. That latter stage lasts for about 43 seconds.

“Whatever you do, don’t blink or else you will miss the duckling days, since they grow up so quick,” says Felicia Farrell, a duck owner from Malone, N.Y. “They will most likely outgrow whatever you put them in.”

Unfortunately, the realization of ducklings becoming big ol’ ducks sometimes leads to these waterfowl being abandoned on a public pond or at municipal parks, which is never a good idea for a domesticated animal — as well as illegal.

“It breaks my heart to know that the cute Easter duckies that grew too big and made a mess are dumped to fend for themselves,” says Oxford, Conn.-based Raye Hodgson, a duck owner since 2010. “It seems that many people believe that domestic ducks will be just fine ‘in the wild.’ They are not. They do not know how to feed themselves and cannot protect themselves from predators or other dangers, like automobile traffic.”