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K & S
06-16-2007, 04:35 PM
This time of year I have a lot of out of town guests and of course they all want to go to Disneyland. Always happy for a reason to go to the park, I've sometimes visited two or three times a week.

I've noticed that ducklings disappear practically overnight. At the entrance to Frontierland there was a mother duck with twelve newly hatched ducklings, and the next day the ducklings were gone.

Are the ducklings removed to control the population?

evrythngwmn
06-16-2007, 04:42 PM
Unfortunately a lot of them are eaten by other birds/animals.

crrees
06-16-2007, 05:00 PM
Unfortunately a lot of them are eaten by other birds/animals.

what she said...

notice all the heavy cats?

K & S
06-16-2007, 05:21 PM
what she said...

notice all the heavy cats?


I've had some experience with raising ducklings, and the cats aren't getting very many of them. The parents always keep the ducklings near the water and if they sense any danger they’re all in the water ASAP.

A few years ago two ducks nested in the yard of my apartment building and had twelve ducklings, which they raised in my swimming pool. It became a war between the County Health Department and the Federal Fish and Game Department. The County said they had to be moved and the Feds said they couldn’t be touched. We had local news crews out here and then kids from the local elementary school walking over for field trips.

The Feds don’t call them ducks, according to them they are Wild Migratory Water Fowl and protected during the nesting season. The Feds won, locked the pool gates and we had to keep the pool somewhat clean with fourteen ducks pooping in it for six weeks.

julbright
06-16-2007, 05:50 PM
there were quite a few ducklings in the water off the hungry bear dock last weekend...

stan4d_steph
06-16-2007, 06:56 PM
Night herons will eat baby ducks. I've seen them hanging around a few times.

VickiC
06-16-2007, 07:41 PM
what she said...

notice all the heavy cats?

The primary predators of ducklings are larger birds like hawks, owls and herons.

Just imagine what would happen if every mama duck had 10 ducklings every year and they all survived!

AVP
06-16-2007, 08:56 PM
Night herons will eat baby ducks. I've seen them hanging around a few times.I saw one snatched out of the Rivers of America, with the mother duck frantically trying to get the rest of her brood to safety.

AVP

Mom2
06-17-2007, 02:13 AM
Is it against the rules to feed the ducks? I know that usually its common not to feed the wildlife, mostly for the safety of the guests. I have been known to let my son feed them on trips while waiting for Fantasmic.

stan4d_steph
06-17-2007, 06:42 AM
Is it against the rules to feed the ducks? I know that usually its common not to feed the wildlife, mostly for the safety of the guests. I have been known to let my son feed them on trips while waiting for Fantasmic.You shouldn't feed the ducks or any other wildlife. I don't know if there are any signs up at Disneyland to this effect, however.

What's "Disney"?
06-17-2007, 08:21 AM
Is it against the rules to feed the ducks? I know that usually its common not to feed the wildlife, mostly for the safety of the guests. I have been known to let my son feed them on trips while waiting for Fantasmic.

It is a very bad idea to feed the animals. No, it's not really for the saftey of the guests, but more for the saftey of the animals. Feeding the wild animals will make them "lazy" and they will no longer want to find their own food. This is why zoos must put animals they want to release on a carefully controlled feeding program before they are put back into the wild. Also, feeding a wild animal "human food" may not be healthy for the animal, and may very well make that animal extremely ill. With all this said, I would definitely avoid feeding the Disneyland ducks.

cstephens
06-17-2007, 09:47 AM
Is it against the rules to feed the ducks? I know that usually its common not to feed the wildlife, mostly for the safety of the guests. I have been known to let my son feed them on trips while waiting for Fantasmic.

Nope, no rules against it. People feed them all the time, even things like french fries. We tend to feed them bread products if we're going to.

I wouldn't consider the ducks at Disneyland on the same level as regular "wildlife". Many of them live there anyway.

tod
06-17-2007, 10:11 AM
I remember an old Disneyland TV show showing a small bird -- maybe a sparrow -- getting deluged with popcorn and the kndly narrator (maybe Winston Hibler) saying something along the lines of "Any bird lucky enough to find his way into Disneyland never leaves."

--t

Disney Yeti
06-17-2007, 10:54 AM
Why not feed the Ducks they did win the Stanley cup this year.....


Go Ducks.. Best hockey team in the world and only 2 miles away, you guys are lucky.:)

What's "Disney"?
06-17-2007, 11:59 AM
Should I restate what I said?

It's

not

a

good

idea

to

feed

the

ducks.

wwithers
06-17-2007, 12:12 PM
I heard.:rolleyes: I also still feed the ducks. I agree with cstephens about the ducks at DL. They are all but domesticated and aren't going anywhere else soon.

FYI, most zoos post those "Keep Wild Animals Wild...don't feed them" signs not for the safety of the "wild" animals but because said animals then become pests, both to the zoo guests and to the zoo animals.
Animals that are being prepared for eventual release are kept well out of the public eye and have almost NO interaction with humans (including their own keepers). That said, while in captivity, they have come to expect that food is "given" to them. They are taught to hunt for their own food through gradual, controlled release.

cstephens
06-17-2007, 02:33 PM
With seagulls, I'd agree. They're nasty at Sea World San Diego and very bold about stealing food. Ducks not so much.

Anyone who sees me feeding ducks and feels the need to say something to me ... can just keep their feelings to themselves.

woody9six
06-17-2007, 02:43 PM
With seagulls, I'd agree. They're nasty at Sea World San Diego and very bold about stealing food. Ducks not so much.

Anyone who sees me feeding ducks and feels the need to say something to me ... can just keep their feelings to themselves.

From the National Humane Education Society:

NHES wants to send a word of caution to animal lovers who enjoy visiting local parks and feeding ducks and geese near ponds. Good intentions can cause the death of these animals by botulism. The problem arises when water becomes stagnant and the bacterial toxin grows in still water with low levels of oxygen. The bacteria build-up is caused by rotting food, fecal matter and debris in the stagnant water. Uneaten bread in ponds turns foul and ducks and geese will die from the bacteria. One town solved the problem by installing water circulation devices to help maintain the pond's oxygen level, however, they still have an ordinance which bans bird feeding.

And here is some more info on the hazards of duck feeding.

http://www.liveducks.com/bread.html

wwithers
06-17-2007, 03:00 PM
From the National Humane Education Society:

NHES wants to send a word of caution to animal lovers who enjoy visiting local parks and feeding ducks and geese near ponds. Good intentions can cause the death of these animals by botulism. The problem arises when water becomes stagnant and the bacterial toxin grows in still water with low levels of oxygen. The bacteria build-up is caused by rotting food, fecal matter and debris in the stagnant water. Uneaten bread in ponds turns foul and ducks and geese will die from the bacteria. One town solved the problem by installing water circulation devices to help maintain the pond's oxygen level, however, they still have an ordinance which bans bird feeding.

And here is some more info on the hazards of duck feeding.

http://www.liveducks.com/bread.html

If Disney left rotting food in their water, I might be concerned. They get fed enough "fresh" food that I doubt they go trolling for rotten food. Further, Disney does have water circulating devices to prevent a myriad of problems that come from stagnant water.

And the fecal matter? That's gonna be there whether they get their food from people or from the "wild".

woody9six
06-17-2007, 04:01 PM
If Disney left rotting food in their water, I might be concerned. They get fed enough "fresh" food that I doubt they go trolling for rotten food. Further, Disney does have water circulating devices to prevent a myriad of problems that come from stagnant water.

And the fecal matter? That's gonna be there whether they get their food from people or from the "wild".


Ok...I am not going to get into a argument over this. That fact is that feeding things like bread to ducks is harmful to them in a variety of ways...not just because of what it does to the water.

Scientists pretty much agree that it is harmful...and a bad idea. I am not going to tell any one what they should or shouldn't be doing. But it certainly seems clear to me that much more harm than good results from feeding ducks bread.

Just trying to help educate.

If people wanna feed them...fine...just don't think it is benefiting the ducks in any way.

What's "Disney"?
06-17-2007, 05:39 PM
With seagulls, I'd agree. They're nasty at Sea World San Diego and very bold about stealing food. Ducks not so much.

Anyone who sees me feeding ducks and feels the need to say something to me ... can just keep their feelings to themselves.

Sounds good to me!

Feed a duck...

...and let it die!

Scientists have provided not just one, but multiple reasons not to feed the ducks. 1) It makes them ill. 2) They stop hunting for their own food 3) Left over bread causes harmful bacteria levels to rise, therby killing the animals.

After being educated on this, you still have the heart to feed them??? If I were a duck, I'd be afraid of you.

wwithers
06-17-2007, 09:34 PM
Last "comment" (as it were) since I'm with Woody about not going to getting into a huge debate about feeding the ducks at DL....

:rolleyes:

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:



oh yeah, and...






:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Mom2
06-17-2007, 11:15 PM
Woops, I did not mean to cause a huge debate here.

I did admit that I had done it and wondered if there had been any actual set rules. I have never seen any signs at Disney against it.

I am not sure about the rotting food issue-what about the water getting lit on fire for Fantasmic...is that harmful to the ducks? I wonder how they do that...

What's "Disney"?
06-18-2007, 02:03 AM
Hey, I'm not the one causing the debate! It seems that the duck-feeders on this forum are trying to defend themselves (without any scientific backing) in order to justify their actions. Whatever. And now, because everything is supposedly "happy" on an online forum, this topic will most likely be closed. Oh well, it was a good topic while it lasted!

What's "Disney"?
06-18-2007, 03:23 AM
In fact, I don't even know why this has turned into a debate. It shouldn't be a debate. It's like debating whether or not we live on Earth. Face it: It's a fact that feeding wild animals is bad. I'm on the side of guest and animal saftey, and I'm clueless on what the other side is defending. I guess they are defending the right to harm ducks/geese through feeding them...