Sometimes things happen for a reason. My girlfriend and I were taking an afternoon stroll. We walked by Safeway. There we saw two ducks huddling together. I said, “This is why I don’t feed ducks.”
I went on to explain the reasons why. Feeding any wild animal is not a good idea period. Contact with wild animals can spread diseases and parasites to people and the animals.
Also, ducks, like all animals, have specific dietary needs that cannot be replicated with bread and bird seeds.
More importantly, in colder climates, ducks that are fed become habituated to food hand-outs and do not migrate properly as the case in Salmon Arm one year, roughly 1998.
A cold snap left some ducks frozen, stuck in the ice itself. A couple of days later, we saw first-hand effects of feeding ducks.
We took a walk through Polson Park. It immediately became apparent that duck feeders don’t stop by as much in the winter with any food.
Within minutes, we were surrounded by scores of hungry ducks mistakenly assuming that we had food. They were literally tripping over each other as each duck tried to get as close as possible to us.
The ducks had blocked the whole road and it was hard to take one step without fear of crushing a duck. We slowly tip-toed through the flock of ducks.
They eventually stopped following us and we made it through safely with a unique memory to take with us.
Solution as follows:
Don’t feed ducks
If you must feed them, try something a biologist or vet recommended. Maybe the city could make accessible a vending machine for people to use with specific mallard food.
If you feed ducks, don’t forget about them in the winter.
Tyler Grinde
Vernon
