In town and cities all over this Country there are Children, the old and disabled who live in flats and houses with no gardens and no opportunities to experience wildlife other than in communal parks. Some with ponds and lakes that attract wildlife and wildfowl. For some children feeding the wildfowl is there first and only opportunity in their childhood to interact with wildlife. What signals about wildlife are being given out to children when told no no you must not feed the ducks,swans, geese and wildfowl or mummy will be fined lots of money for letting you do what children have done for ever. Money that they cant afford or deserve to have taken for being a good parent.
I see ponds and lakes in parks as areas to attract wildlife and for leisure and enjoyment of all, with the facilities any particular park offers. Feeding the wildfowl comes into that category. Of course it would be better to feed wheat and flaked maze if you are able to source it, or for some afford the cost, but I have never seen ducks floating on their backs with their legs in the air because they have been given bread. Or have I seen many overfed ducks become so large and bloated they can hardly walk, that can be said to be in that condition because of being give bread. Animals like human come in a shapes and sizes. Being large is not always caused by unhealthy diets.
As for feeding the ducks being a dubious pastime, and that children only enjoy it because adults teach them. Adults teach most that children learn including how to enjoy themselves. Taking them to feed the ducks is not dubious. Some people may not agree with it. I experienced the delight and enjoyment of a child feeding the wildfowl at Denbury when I went to feed the Geese and their Goslings on the Lake earlier this year. I will never forget his face when he kept looking up at me showing his enjoyment.
As for our local park is a far more pleasant place since duck bread was banned and there is no longer a risk of slipping on unsightly rank leftovers. If you look where you are going and side step any of the small amount of bread that may be left, you wont slip over. Better still instead of councils giving employees pens to write out fines for those in the parks that they pay for out of their council tax, give them a broom.
I feed and allow those visiting Denbury to feed our wildfowl and Swans bread. Our wildfowl as those in communal parks are able to eat grass or water weed on the banks or bottom of the lakes.
There are to many council and government jobs Worth’s spoiling this country with unnecessary new laws, rules and regulation that they were not elected to pass.