Please Don't Feed the Ducks
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
Raise you hand if your community has problems with ducks or geese.
I see a lot of hands out there.
Any good solutions?
How do you stop people from feeding them?
Or, does Eau Claire sound like it could be your city?
Sue Kaul knows how tempting it can be to feed the ducks that frequent Half Moon Lake. She used to feed the feathered fowl herself.
“I think these people mean well, but it’s totally against the natural cycle of feeding,” Kaul said.
Feeding ducks concentrates the waterfowl and their nutrient-containing droppings in a lake that already is too fertile, she said.
Another problem with ducks is they carry the fluke, which causes swimmer’s itch. The city no longer has a swimming beach on the lake, but people still wade and sometimes swim in the water, Kaul said.
Oh how well I remember swimmer’s itch. Some people are very susceptible to “the itch” others are more immune. I can get “the itch” just by looking at duck in a lake. I swear.
Another problem with feeding …
some of the ducks were too tame and too heavy to fly. Obese ducks were dying in the winter, apparently freezing.
So, please don’t feed the ducks and geese.
But, if in season shoot away!
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