Do Not Feed the Ducks

It's not uncommon for humans to feed ducks while at a park, lake, or beach, but did you know that in feeding birds bread or other human food, you can actually kill them? When you feed a duck, that food can be smelled by other animals, including vermin, which is an animal no one wants in their park, lake, or neighborhood. Not only are vermin filled with all sorts of diseases and parasites that can harm ducks, but they can harm your pet too.

Uneaten bread can develop mold, and that mold can turn into aspergillus, a fungus that can actually kill humans. According to Web MD, a garden fungus actually killed a 47 year-old British man. Web MD states that aspergillus can cause an allergic reaction in the lungs and can spread to any part of the body, including the brain.

Food that is left out to rot can pollute water and create a breeding ground for parasites and diseases. According to All the Animals, a single outbreak of Duck Virus Enteritis can kill all ducks. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources describes Duck Virus Enteritis (DVE) as a highly contagious disease of waterfowl caused by a herpes virus that causes internal bleeding and severe diarrhea, and kills many infected birds. DVE can cause infertility problems, and affects not just ducks but swans and geese as well.

The National Wildlife Health Center warns that Avian botulism is another disease that can harm ducks by humans feeding them. This is a paralytic disease that ducks can get by consuming decomposing vegetation. The ducks ingest a toxin produced by the bacteria, Clostridium botulinum , which is widespread in soil. This doesn't just affect the wildlife, it can affect you as well.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) warns that swimmer's itch, also known as cercarial dermatitis, affects humans that swim in water infected by wildlife - namely birds. It is caused by a parasite that lives in infected swans, ducks, geese, and sea gulls. It is thought that waterfowl contract the parasite by being artificially fed (by humans).

Ducks might look clean but they actually defecate at the site of scattered food (e.g. bread), and the fecal bacteria can create a risk for disease. All the Animals states that most of the waterfowl that have died off in the past 10 years have been attributed to artificial feeding.

Overfed ducks can also create an abundance of waste that can harm pond life including fish. And if the ducks don't get to every morsel you've fed them, that very same food (e.g. corn) can actually kill fish because they are incapable of digesting it.

The bottom line is this: feeding ducks can lead to overpopulation, disease, and delayed migration. So the next time you have some leftover food, consider donating it to the food bank, use it for composting your garden, or use it for tomorrow's meal.

*To read more of Bobbi Leder's work on Associated Content, click here.

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