Feeding the Wildlife

Should We Feed the Ducks or Any Wildlife? Just a reminder that we should not be feeding the wildlife. When we feed them, the animals or birds don’t develop their natural foraging and survival habits which is not good for them. While it can be entertaining and people may think they are helping, it is actually the opposite, you are actually doing more harm than good.

To further explore this, let’s use ducks as an example. When you feed the ducks, then more ducks gather and they learn very quickly that they have an easy food source and depending on what you are feeding them, they may not be achieving a healthy, balanced diet.

When more ducks gather, they leave their feces on docks nearby, on the shoreline as well as in the water. Swimmer’s Itch is an itchy rash caused by a parasite in the lake water. The parasitic larvae that causes swimmer’s itch are deposited into lakes via duck and goose droppings.

 If you come into contact with water contaminated with parasites, the microscopic parasites can burrow into your skin forming red, itchy bumps and a rash which is called swimmer’s itch.

What Can You Do To Help?

For the sake of our children and grandchildren who enjoy being in the water, please do not feed the ducks or other wildlife. To learn more, you can click on these links:

• https://publichealthinsider.com/2015/07/29/what-an-itch-swimmers-edition/
•  https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/swimmersitch/faqs.html