One mallard flies into the York County pond, then chases another. The splashing and chasing continues before one is run off. Credit: Courtesy of Dan Hartrey

When it comes to waterfowl, I’ve had it all wrong. I always thought that geese were the nasty ones — a legendary family story about one of my stepchildren getting chased and bitten by an angry goose probably serves as the foundation for that belief — and ducks were the placid, nice ones.

Today’s trail camera videos — two that we’ve stitched together — seem to indicate that some ducks are less than friendly, too.

Dan Hartrey, who lives in York County, sent in several videos that show plenty of ducks gathering in a small pond. And some of ’em aren’t very nice to each other.

“My property abuts a swamp and every March 15 or so they arrive and stay until mid June,” Hartrey said. “Originally they followed a mallard to my bird feeder, but now I put out cracked corn for them. That’s what they dive for.”

Hartrey said they come to the swamp each morning and evening, and they’re doing more than diving, as the video shows.

One mallard flies into the pond, then chases another. The splashing and chasing continues before one is run off.

And you thought ducks were nice, politely quacking creatures? Not this time.

Do you have a trail camera photo or video to share? Send it to jholyoke@bangordailynews.com and tell us “I consent to the BDN using my photo.” In order to prevent neighbors from stopping by to try to tag particularly large bucks, moose or bears, some identities and towns of origin may be omitted. If you are unable to view the photo or video mentioned in this story, go to bangordailynews.com.

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John Holyoke

John Holyoke has been enjoying himself in Maine's great outdoors since he was a kid. He spent 28 years working for the BDN, including 19 years as the paper's outdoors columnist or outdoors editor. While...