Feeding the Ducks

gynn · 21-10-2010, 05:54

I've got a suggestion for the first two public sector jobs to go as a result of the cuts.

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Mum ticked off for feeding the wrong bread to ducks

Hailsham Council will be better off without the "fluorescent jacketed busy-body" who told them off, and the jobsworth "deputy town clerk" who defended his action.

Neil · 21-10-2010, 06:37

People will moan about anything. Feeding ducks white bread is bad for them as stated in that link by the Council's vet. It sounds to me like the lady in question did not like being told, so moaned about it.

From that article

Quote:

She said: “There were loads of ducks around us and they looked quite hungry.

What does a hungry duck look like? Do they walk around rubbing their bellies with a sad look on their faces?

It sounds like he was polite from this

Quote:

“Then a man in a fluorescent waistcoat who was holding a litter pick-up stick came over to me and said ‘I know you mean well but giving them white bread is not good for them’.”

And the explanation from the Council is fair enough as well

Quote:

Nickey Caria, deputy town clerk at Hailsham Town Council, said the official was merely passing on advice they had received from vets.

He said: “We have been advised by an animal rescue centre here that the public should be urged not to feed wild birds white bread as it is bad for them.

Then we get this daft person interfering

Quote:

Josie Appleton, of civil liberties campaign group the Manifesto Club, said: “It is amazing that health fascism extends to the digestive system of ducks.

“We need to rein in the powers of fluorescent-jacketed busy-bodies.” Naturalist Chris Packham, presenter off the BBC’s Autumn Watch, said: “I wouldn’t stop anyone from feeding birds. We send out the message that wildlife needs our help all the time so it seems a bit churlish to tell people what food to use.”

Its got nothing to do with "health fascism" and everything to do with the ducks health.

gynn · 21-10-2010, 06:42

You missed out the last bit.

"Naturalist Chris Packham, presenter off the BBC’s Autumn Watch, said: “I wouldn’t stop anyone from feeding birds. We send out the message that wildlife needs our help all the time so it seems a bit churlish to tell people what food to use.”

Neil · 21-10-2010, 06:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by gynn

You missed out the last bit.

"Naturalist Chris Packham, presenter off the BBC’s Autumn Watch, said: “I wouldn’t stop anyone from feeding birds. We send out the message that wildlife needs our help all the time so it seems a bit churlish to tell people what food to use.”

I left that out on purpose because he was talking rubbish.

garinda · 21-10-2010, 07:00

I feed the birds near me with dainty morsels of toasted white bread, spread with a little duck pâté.

They love it.

Ken Moss · 21-10-2010, 07:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

I left that out on purpose because he was talking rubbish.

You're claiming better knowledge of wildlife than Chris Packham?? Brave man.

We keep chickens in our works yard and they'll have anything we throw at them. They're not showing any signs of ill health yet after three years and I dare say they're a damn sight better off than in the battery cages they came from.

The fat balls, bread and scraps that I leave out for the sparrows and starlings at Rishton Towers also seem to go down well.

We're in a dense urban area, surely feeding the birds something is better than not having them at all? They don't seem to mind and they keep breeding so I'm assuming that the odd slice of Warburton's finest isn't doing them any real harm.

Neil · 21-10-2010, 07:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

I feed the birds near me with dainty morsels of toasted white bread, spread with a little duck pâté.

They love it.

Forced duck cannibalism, you are one sick puppy

Neil · 21-10-2010, 07:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

You're claiming better knowledge of wildlife than Chris Packham?? Brave man.

No I am not claiming that, just saying he was talking rubbish. He should be doing what the Council chap was and advise people what is the right and wrong foods to feed them.

A while our goats in the park were quite sick because someone had been feeding them the wrong things. If the vet had not been called out to give them an anti-emetic one of them could have died as he was very ill.

Ken Moss · 21-10-2010, 07:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

No I am not claiming that, just saying he was talking rubbish. He should be doing what the Council chap was and advise people what is the right and wrong foods to feed them.

A while our goats in the park were quite sick because someone had been feeding them the wrong things. If the vet had not been called out to give them an anti-emetic one of them could have died as he was very ill.

The digestive capabilities of birds and grazing animals are quite different so that doesn't surprise me but most fowl will snaffle up anything they find with no ill effects.

Anything that can merrily peck away at dog muck and thrive won't be worried by a sliced loaf.

garinda · 21-10-2010, 08:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

Forced duck cannibalism, you are one sick puppy

I should mention I'm, not stupid, and don't feed all the birds that.

The geese get pâté de foie gras on their toasted white bread.

garinda · 21-10-2010, 08:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

The digestive capabilities of birds and grazing animals are quite different so that doesn't surprise me but most fowl will snaffle up anything they find with no ill effects.

Anything that can merrily peck away at dog muck and thrive won't be worried by a sliced loaf.

Seagulls feast on puke at the seaside, and have a very healthy looking plumage.

jaysay · 21-10-2010, 09:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

I feed the birds near me with dainty morsels of toasted white bread, spread with a little duck pâté.

They love it.

Your rearing a flock of bloodY cannibals G

garinda · 21-10-2010, 09:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysay

Your rearing a flock of bloodY cannibals G

Just be grateful I didn't enter the pie business.

Neil · 21-10-2010, 09:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

The digestive capabilities of birds and grazing animals are quite different so that doesn't surprise me but most fowl will snaffle up anything they find with no ill effects.

Anything that can merrily peck away at dog muck and thrive won't be worried by a sliced loaf.

You don't have to believe me if you don't want, do a bit of googling and you will find out why you should not feed water fowl white bread (and other things). You will learn how it can be a cause of botulism in water fowl, how it fills them up but provides little nutrition etc etc.

We have polite signs in Rhyddings asking people not to feed the animals before asking the people looking after them. That way they can be educated as to what and why and why not.

Ken Moss · 21-10-2010, 09:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

You don't have to believe me if you don't want, do a bit of googling and you will find out why you should not feed water fowl white bread (and other things). You will learn how it can be a cause of botulism in water fowl, how it fills them up but provides little nutrition etc etc.

We have polite signs in Rhyddings asking people not to feed the animals before asking the people looking after them. That way they can be educated as to what and why and why not.

I'm not questioning that, it has been said for years that it isn't in the best interests of ducks (and hedgehogs, for that matter) to feed them bread but it is firmly entrenched in the British psyche as just something that we do and it doesn't generally seem to do too much harm to the resident bird population.

Better feeding the ducks than mindlessly blowing away the geese, something we're having to deal with in Rishton at the moment.