Grand Lakes HOA agrees to stop killing neighborhood ducks

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- After hearing from its residents, a Fort Bend County neighborhood Homeowners Association is making some adjustments to a policy that had some crying foul.

Grand Lakes is a 1250-acre community in Katy. For resident Jennifer Schertz, part of the attraction is the natural setting.

"It's Grand Lakes," she told Eyewitness News. "People come, People live in the neighborhood because they love the lakes, they love the wildlife. "

That wildlife includes ducks, Muscovy ducks that live and breed among the community's parks, lakes and homes.

"There used to be ducks in every lake," explained Schertz. "Now in most of the lakes there are no ducks. In some, there might be one or two. "

So where the ducks going? The neighborhood association is thinning the population.

It upset Schertzenough so much that she started a petition. In a couple of weeks, she has 660 signatures from people who agree with her. Carol Trujillo is one of them..

"The ducks have always been there and they've never been an issue," said Trujillo. "They're sweet. They're very entertaining. They're an intelligent duck. No. They're not aggressive."

But in a statement to Eyewitness News, that's not how the HOA's management company characterized the ducks. The statement read, in part, "Muscovy ducks are not native to the Houston area and they have been shown to be aggressive toward other wildlife and Grand Lakes residents."

A group of petitioners attended the HOA's board meeting Monday night. We weren't allowed inside, but those who attended tell us the board listened to them. It is no longer killing ducks. It won't do in the future. And it's agreed to form a wildlife committee and better communicate the issue with residents.

Schertz says she's pleased the HOA listened to its residents and she looks forward to working with them to humanely control the duck population in the future.