Well, your county isn't the only one. One of our parks has/had a large population of ducks, so much so that the duck poo was all over the park. The first flock was taken by a horse rancher who had a big pond. But they kept coming so now they are trapping them and euthanizing them. Said it was unsanitary for the kids playing in the park.

I know, I know--makes me sick, too.

Terrible! But, there must be something they can do besides euthanizing them.

Maybe that's why they have adopted the "don't feed" policy here. Just in case.

As someone who lives in a semi-rural area (large acreage lots, few roads), I contend with people who want to feed the deer.

They move here because Bambi lives here. "Oh, just LOOK at the deer!" They feed the Bambis. The deer reproduce in spades because they are well fed on deer corn, so they're fat. They breed, people forget to put out the corn, or get ticked off because Bambi just ate $1000 worth of landscaping.

The babies starve. Then they die. The adults get sick and weak from the bad diet.

There is not enough natural forage to sustain the population explosion when people feed "pretty Bambi", or the "pretty duckies".

Deer are not designed to eat corn, anymore than ducks are designed to eat bread. It's bad for the animals.

Go and point them out to the grandkids. You don't need to feed them.

Oh, and you don't have to bury the rotting dead ducks. When a fawn or larger deer dies here, I do have to either bury it, or drag it someplace where the vultures can eat it in peace.

This is not a pleasant job. Dead flesh stinks.

Considering I have 6 cats because I started feeding strays, I should have pondered it a bit more before getting irked.

Still, it's like a rite of passage... old enough to toss breadcrumbs, then it's time to go feed the ducks. We've fed the ducks at the waterfront for over 30 years!

i always heard it wasnt good feeding ducks,I recently stopped at a lakeside people were getting out with full loaves of bread...It fills up thier stomachs,Did you ever see how big a wet loaf of bread gets????not good..

Feeding the ducks on the river that goes through our park was stopped several years ago.

The ducks had gotten so prolific, they were wandering around the nearby streets. At one intersection beside the river the city put up a Duck Crossing sign. The sign is still there, but the duck population has diminished. I guess the No Feeding plan worked.

Sue

The other problem with feeding them is they'll get so tamed that they start chasing people (especially kids) around as soon as they see them. Geese are terrible that way. One park in another city finally wised up about don't feed the dang geese after some complaints started coming in about geese attacking. People generally think a duck or goose bite isn't anything since they don't have normal teeth, but ask my sister what it's like to get "pinched" by a goose. They're strong, and it hurts.

Why did the duck/goose cross the road? To get to the people who might feed them on the other side... until the cars hit them or worse, swerve to avoid them, get into accidents and injure someone.

I really wish people would quit trying to tame wild animals. Whether it's tigers, squirrels or ducks. It's not a good thing IMO.

However there is a good compromise. Give the ducks a big pan of water. They too like a drink of cool water on a hot day and Watching them flopping around in it is very entertaining and doesn't cause near the problems.

An over population of ducks also pollutes nearby streams and waterways. Ducks can strip an entire park of it's lawn areas.
They are wildlife. They are not pets. Dependence on humans does them a disservice and is bad for their health.

It also bad for people's health. Every summer swimming lagoons and beaches are often closed because of pollution by fecal matter from ducks.

There's another thing to consider. So many people, when feeding ducks, go to the water's edge and toss the bits of bread into the water for the ducks. That's VERY VERY bad for them to eat soaked bread. But so many people aren't aware of that fact. The sign may be in place to HELP the ducks.

If you have the opportunity to feed ducks, know something they adore? Apple peelings. They just love them. And they've got to be better for them than bread made with bleached flour and loads of chemicals.

People here are feedng the bears. They shot one last week. Too tame..=..too agressive.

There was a TV special on about people feeding the bears. People think they are cute, but like Nicole said they become aggressive. They start going into houses to get food.

What if, instead of feeding the ducks, you and GS create a birdfeeder (out of a plastic bottle, maybe--teach reusing/recycling) and fill it with seed that will attract certain birds, or put up a hummingbird feeder. You'll teach him about nature and it'll be a routine bonding time when he comes over to tend to the feeders. And if you live in a cool-weather state, it'll be a lesson, too, to make sure that even the littlest creatures should be looked out for (yup, there are some that just don't go south!).

Oh dear, what will happen to the bakers of 'duck bread' -- the air-y sawdust flour Wonder Bread stuff? When I was a child and feeding ducks was a passtime we had Bread (whoelgrain, suitable for human consumption) and Duck Bread in the house.

Well feed them if you like,its a non-issue to me

HOWEVER,trying to go to a park where there are dozens of ducks and geese,and all of the crap they leave behind is sickening.

Its' pretty bad when our local lakes and rivers are polluted from duck and goose crap,and having a picnic is out of the question.

Trap them,euthanize them then make soup. JMHO