well I don't think mallard mate for life, I had some and the drake had four hens to mate with and when I introduced another drake they didn't mind at all. Geese however I believe do mate for life, so I've heard. Sounds like the hen mallard is trying to nest. Since there is only the two of them, mallard species, they have probably gotten closer than they would have if they were in a larger group. The drake will tend to help fend off predators in some cases. At least mine did. As far as whether or not the geese are sterile, I have no idea. My neighbor had a muscovey duck that thought he was a goose, he was raised with them and would try to mate the female goose. The male goose in turn would attack the duck. Perhaps they are just confused?? I am not a professional by any means, but this is my two cents worth. Hope you figure it out.

I have raised several wood ducks. They are the most wonderful little birds. I loved mine. One died. It got sick I guess, and one was killed by a hawk. It was so sad. Since then I have raised two more. They are a male and female. They have not laid eggs though. Not sure they will in captivity but maybe next spring I will find out differently. They are not like normal ducks though they are very friendly and attach to their human friends(-: If your duck is able to fly off she might call a mate. They have a beautiful call.

Sorry I didn't come back sooner, Helen. It would be illegal to trap the birds unless you could get the DNR to issue a permit and I haven't heard of that happening. I expect the birds would beat you back. It would be difficult to move them any way since they are flocking birds and a flock would be too difficult to catch and transport at one time. I expect using the pups to chase the birds could make the DNR unhappy. But it would depend on the situation. I would check with the authorities in advance and I know they would forbid it when the birds were nesting. I would be more concerned about injuries to the dogs than to the birds. If you have ever faced an angry duck or goose you know what I mean. Sandy

Nearly all of the wild geese we see today do not migrate... Back in the early 1960's Canadian Geese were on the endangered list and nearing extinction. There is a Wildlife preservation group called "Ducks Unlimited" that was formed by waterfowl hunters and they began a program of creating habitat and hatching Canadian Geese and a number of different wild duck species which they released into the wild all along the eastern flyway. (Major wildfowl migration route), The problem today is that the geese that were hatched & released have little to no social interaction with the true wild geese, so they have not adopted the habit of migrating. To compound the problem, the geese that were hatched & released do not have the natural fear of man that is present in the true wild geese, so they have no problem with living on any available pond whether its out in the country or right in the middle of an urban area and as a consequence they have become a nuisance in many places.