"do not feed the ducks" taskforce

never thought i would be involved with this kind of volunteer work, but the ducks need us! way back in the beginning of my camp fire group, we did our guerilla art to spread the message about saving the wetlands. we also sent our local council members letters and from that, i was approached to organize a task force to help stop people from feeding the ducks at our parks. i was amazed at how harmful feeding the ducks can be and how it not only harms them, it harms the whole pond making it a truly unhealthy place to visit. in a nutshell: when ducks are given bread and crackers, their stomaches are designed to break up vegetable based food and insects (think of how bad white bread is for us, why would it be good for ducks?). the bread basically balls up with the added water, making them feel full so they dont eat what they SHOULD be eating. this makes their intestines out of whack and they have an increase in "you know what" which pollutes the pond. also, there tend to be more animals than should be in a given area since the food is given to them (ducks will move around more looking for natural food). the link between our local ponds and the wetlands is also important, migrating birds will stop by our parks and then stay instead of moving on. this causes a disruption in their mating and migration on a very large scale. something i never thought about before too is that the crumbs and waste left behind by all those human visitors, attracts mice and rats which also multiply as there is an increase in food supply. 

most people would stop if they just knew how bad it is for the ducks, pond and environment in general so we are trying to spread the word by getting kids involved. its funny, when you tell parents at the pond they need to stop feeding the ducks and why, you can get some attitude (i have had people tell me they have always fed the ducks as if thats an ok reason to continue) BUT if you educate kids, they are positive and helpful and rally behind sharing the news with others. maybe kids are used to being disciplined and parents/adults dont respond well to it? who knows!

here we are, sharing with the community:

i made "duck patrol" buttons which were a big hit. we had kids sign up to help in future projects and if they took a button, they had to promise to share with others why we shouldnt feed the ducks. a fair amount of adults grabbed them too!


kids came to the table to make "do not feed the ducks" posters to take back and share with their teachers



emily and brooke went up with the boy scouts to do the flag salute (we love the boy scouts!)




lizzie had fun too!

the school year and camp fire is in full swing, it will be halloween before you know it and then on in to christmas and another year. trying to slow the pace down, work less, paint more... trying to find a balance, same old story. i am looking forward to a new arrival (hi jen!) and planning more trips (yes i am a travel addict) even though the bank account is in the negatives, oh well! just trying to keep positive for our future and the whole world should be watching in november because whatever happens in our upcoming election is surely going to rock the world. i hope i am drinking champagne and lighting fireworks in celebration (rather than drinking tequila straight from the bottle to numb the pain) you know what i mean, right?
ok, enough of that! so spread the word to all your friends: dont feed the ducks!