Pythons aren’t native, but bass will eat ducklings, as will herons. We get hawks every now and then, too. It’s not unusual to see a momma with 16 ducklings show up a couple of days later with half that many.
I imagine that Muscovies in the true wild might taste OK, but the ones that live near people in Florida get into trash and I’ve heard that’s what they taste like.
Farm raised Muscovies are a delicacy. Thomas Jefferson raised them for food.
The thought of consuming a trash-dining duck is icky-but since I don’t have a problem going to the river to catch catfish and eat them, I probably don’t have any room to talk...
I’ve heard that pet pythons that have been turned loose/escaped are a problem in areas of Florida-I’m glad it is too cold for them here...
Both the white herons and the bigger blue herons are common-I don’t know if they eat ducklings, but I’ve seen them on the riverbank eating fair-sized snakes as well as fish and frogs.
We either burn or put bagged trash in heavy duty containers for a trash service-otherwise it attracts deer, raccoons, and animals that can be dangerous to livestock, pets and humans-coyotes, feral hogs and the occasional mountain lion.