Residents at the Britton Woods Apartment complex, located on Crescent Drive near The Mall at Tuttle Crossing, were the first to find the dead animals.

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Mary Kattenhorn, who lives in the complex, said the ducks were part of the community.

“I always feed them,” Kattenhorn said. “They come around each morning.”

But on Tuesday, Kattenhorn said she found dozens of the animals dead in the grass. Some of them were full-grown, while others were ducklings, 10TV’s Glenn McEntyre reported.

“That’s awful,” Kattenhorn said, “just awful.”

Authorities said they first received reports that the ducks had been killed by a group of children, but Ohio Division of Wildlife officers said they found no obvious wounds or injuries.

“More than likely it was probably a chemical or something that was placed in the water,” said State Wildlife Officer Brad Kiger.

The apartment complex’s management said the water in the pond is storm water that is not treated with any chemicals, but management said their landscaping company does treat the grounds with fertilizer

The most recent application of fertilizer was about 30 days ago, McEntyre reported.

“If you have a big rain that pushes all that chemical into the water that just concentrates it all,” Kiger said.

Investigators said it was too soon to determine what caused the ducks’ deaths, but they said nothing has been ruled out – including the possibility that the ducks were intentionally poisoned, McEntyre reported.

In addition to the 26 ducks that were discovered dead, about 10 others were found sick. The sick ducks were taken by wildlife officers to receive treatment and to undergo testing.

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