Apr 18, 2019 3 min read

Both sides were crying “fowl” in Washington County Court Wednesday morning.

West Pike Run Township officials are worried that ducks waddling across state Route 481 will cause motorists to take evasive action that will cause a mishap.

And a township resident who said he became – by chance – a host eight years ago to a poultry pair who flourished into a flock says he’s not responsible for their comings and goings.

It was up to attorneys for the township and Scenic Drive property owner James Thomas to smooth ruffled feathers in a proceeding before Judge Michael Lucas, who signed a consent order for a daylight duck roundup in advance of a hearing next week.

“We’ll assist with that,” said Kelly Proudfit, executive director of the Washington Area Humane Society, the agency or “authorized officer” mentioned in the order.

“My humane officer will be leading the duck roundup and we hope to find a foster farm. We’ll do our best to find a happy place for them either temporarily or permanently.”

Proudfit was not present in court, but West Pike Run Township Supervisor Laura Hough said the local ordinance on farm animals requires five acres. Less land requires an owner to apply for a variance, an option that is available to Thomas.

She called the duck crossings and wanderings “a sad situation. Safety is paramount.”

Both sides agree that the ducks have had encounters with traffic that have proven fatal to the birds.

Thomas, 68, said the speed limit on Route 481 is 45 mph, and he’s seen drivers careening through at 65 to 70 mph.

When the original threesome, which later became a breeding pair, first appeared at his home, Thomas said he called the Humane Society about relocating them.

“They said, ‘If you feed them, they belong to you,'” Thomas said of the conversation.

He called himself an “animal lover” who also feeds deer, turkeys, raccoons and Canada geese and provides pools of water.

Clipping the wings of the migrating ducks “wouldn’t stop them from walking,” Thomas said, adding that, as a disabled truck driver living on Social Security, he can’t afford tall fencing around his 3.8 acres.

In its request last week for an injunction, the township asserted that tax records show the parcel measuring 2.6 acres.

“And I can’t afford all of this,” he said of the court proceeding, for which he hired a lawyer at the 11th hour after being served with court documents on Saturday and learning from the Legal Aid Society that it could not provide him with representation in this matter.

Thomas said he doesn’t keep a count of how many are in the flock, put put the number at 16 to 18. The township, in court papers, placed the number of quackers “in excess of 22.”

A West Pike Run Township supervisors meeting earlier this month attracted many residents who discussed aspects of a proposed farm animal ordinance that was ultimately tabled, Hough said.