Don’t worry, you haven’t been the only one feeding the ducks bread. Here’s what you should be feeding them (if at all) plus some other handy wildlife tips.

This week Glam Adelaide shared a photo on Facebook, which was taken by wildlife activist Kaihla Cuthbertson, that was simple enough. It was a sign telling people about the dangers of feeding the ducks bread, and (unusually for a sign) it also told us WHY and WHAT we should be feeding them instead. Sounds simple but you generally only see signs telling us NOT to feed the ducks, and it’s left at that.

Well it seems that we weren’t the only ones getting it wrong (yes we’ve fed ducks bread). The post quickly went viral, and thisweek, it has been shared over 70,000 times, reaching over 5 million people.

It got us thinking though, what else have we been getting wrong? Obviously there’s the blanket statement that we really shouldn’t be feeding wildlife anything at all, but we thought we’d ask Kaihla, who is a Wildlife Presenter at Wild Rangers Wildlife Encounters some of the no-nos that we need to be aware of.

As a Wildlife Presenter, Kaihla spends her days doing interactive wildlife shows and displays. At Wild Rangers Wildlife Encounters they use native reptiles (including salt water crocs), birds and marsupials. Kaihla also works as a Fauna spotter/catcher and snake catcher relocating any native wildlife on development sites that are clearing natural habitat. So basically, this woman knows her stuff.

The sign that Kaihla posted on Facebook, which was snapped at Wentworth Falls lake, outlined that rather than feeding ducks bread, we should be looking at food that’s closer to their natural diet – including cut seedless grapes, cooked rice, birdseed, peas, corn, oats, and chopped lettuce. It also let people know that by feeding ducks bread, which has no nutritional value to them, the bread has rot and polluted their water causing nasty surface algae to grow. This algae kills the fish and gives the ducks diseases, while also making the water smell – certainly a good reason to stop bringing a loaf of bread to the local pond!

Kaihla says that while wildlife will eat what we feed them, but it doesn’t mean that it is good for them. Even if we feed them ‘appropriate’ food, animals can become dependent on humans for their meals as they expect to be constantly fed. This in turn means they can forget how to search for their own food. Other downsides are they animals can become aggressive when fed, and they can also turn nasty once food is denied. Depending on the species, they can also be extremely aggressive when hungry too.

Another downside of feeding wildlife is that some animals are migratory specials, and by feeding them, you become a reliable food source that can then disrupt the migratory plan. Feeding can also help spread disease within the community of animals.

Who knew that feeding the ducks came with so much baggage!

If you did want to involve your children in feeding wildlife, native plant species such casuarina trees and wattle plants are great food sources. While they’re great for bird species, certain blossoms are also excellent for gliders and possums. Gum trees are a good food source for koalas and ring tailed possums.

To be safe though, it’s always good to take the advice of the area you’re in, to suit the wildlife and their habitat. That’s why places like Wild Rangers Wildlife Encounters are great, as they allow you to interact with wildlife in a controlled setting, where you won’t be causing issues for the fauna.

HELIUM BALLOONS

While we’re on the subject of doing what’s right for wildlife, Kaihla mentioned the damage that releasing helium balloons can do. Carly Wilson has provided some of the following info and with Kaihla wants to educate people about why we need to stop doing this.

While everyone loves helium balloons, which are often used for memorials and birthday parties, if they’re released, they reach a certain point in the atmosphere and burst, then shred and end up in water ways.

Marine life such as turtles are eating them thinking they’re jellyfish and if the balloons get caught in their intestines they can no longer digest food. The animals then bloat and die as a result.

So the bottom line? There’s some simple things we can do to help preserve our beautiful wildlife, bird life and marine environment – and it all starts with you.