We have a lot of mallards on our city park lakes here in Minneapolis, in some places a lot of woodies, too. The muskies and the largemouth bass get most of the ducklings, and the muskies take some adult mallards as well. The woodies simply do not use those waters with muskies in them at all. Even adult woodies are small enough to be taken by the muskies.

It is interesting to watch the experienced mallard hens who will go out and explore before they call the babies out to them and that is never very far out on open water. The inexperienced ones will have fewer and fewer ducklings with them as spring wears on, sometimes losing a whole brood. When they get down to one or two babies, of course, the mallard drakes get interested again, and the last one or two sometimes have their mothers driven off by the lusty drakes, and then the little ones get frightened and call and call for the hens who sometimes can't get back to them. That can be kinda sad. Not much one can do - fact of life and all that.