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Killing with Kindness in Huntington
Central Park
By: Rich Huffnagle, Supervising Park Ranger,
County Regional Parks
It's difficult
to not feed the duck and other waterfowl in our County
Regional Parks but the results have been disastrous! Good
intentions on the part of the public have resulted in
waterfowl deaths caused from avian botulism growing on stale
bread, rice, meat, noodles and tortillas being dumped into
County lakes by members of the public. Literally trash bags
full of stale bread, rice, meat, noodles and tortillas are
being deposited daily at not only County lakes, but other
sensitive habitats such as Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach
and Laguna Lake in Fullerton with the same disastrous
results.
Ducks are foragers and feed on works, bugs
and other insects living in the grass. They are not lacking
for food.
According to experts, heat spurs the bloom
of algae, which then depletes oxygen in the water.
Increased fecal matter from over feeding left by large
number of waterfowl feeds the growth of botulin-toxin this
is picked up by insects and stale food. Fish eat the
insects and human food. Birds eat the fish, algae and human
food. The birds die and other creatures feed on the maggots
which become infected and pass the botulism bacteria on to
other birds. The birds develop paralysis and die a slow,
painful death.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors
have designated County parks as wildlife sanctuaries and it
is everyone's responsibility, both public and County
employee, to see to it that all wildlife in our parks are
protected and unharmed.
View these treasures of our parks from a
respectable distance. Use a camera or binoculars to get up
"close and personal". You don't need to feed them to get a
good look at them: "The Choice (for them) is Natural."
Don't let our wildlife get too close to us and loose their
natural survivor skills. Please...Do Not Feed the Wildlife!
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