My son and I love to go to the pond near our house and feed the geese...?

Question

First I must say that geese getting some bread once in a while is no harm to them, secondly as we were sitting enjoying this one beautiful evening some lame chick in a truck yells out her window (that's illegal). I ask myself murder is illegal, robbery is illegal....feeding the geese??? A police officer drove past us feeding them and didn't stop. So is this girl talking out her *** because she is not an animal lover? I'm not inviting the geese to our yard and causing problems with them crossing the roads and holding cars up. We are simply feeding the geese and the babies. Oh and my son and I always go to feed the minows but we can't take bread over without being surrounded by the geese now. That is how it ended up we feed the geese.

Answer 1

Some towns have a local ordnance prohibiting feeding them. They are becoming so thick that they are becoming a nuisance.

Answer 2

I went with my mom allt he timewhenI was little and did the very same thing. Sounds like that chick definetly had something up her ******.

Answer 3

Just ignore morons like her.

Answer 4

I love feeding the geese, too, but do it in out of the way places so as not to get caught.  it is not illegal where i live.  however, the press has been having a field day for the last several years with their nasty articles about too many geese, bogus health concerns, the geese are pests, etc., so that the stupid people end up hating the geese (for no reason other than their ignorance) and then the geese are rounded up and killed.  don't get me going on the crybaby golfers who would rather have the geese killed than to see them on a golf course.  do what makes you happy.  Many honks and wing flaps to you and your son.

Answer 5

Yeah, I dont think it's really a big deal that you feed the geese a little bread. I have pet ducks, and they love bread.

I would just make sure they dont try to follow you or start to get aggressive. Every once in a while assert your authority by spreading out your arms, and see if they jump back.

Forget that girl...keep having fun with your son.

Good Luck!

Answer 6

Where do you live? In Ireland it is certainly not illegal to feed bread to wild birds. If feeding bread to geese was illegal, so would be leaving out a bird table, bird feeder, etc. I really doubt it's illegal anywhere. The only problem I could see would be if they were on private property, and I'm assuming they're not.

My advise - keep enjoying visiting the birds with your son and pay no attention to the crazy truck lady! ;)

Answer 7

Well....

The woman in the truck may have acted a little loonie, but she makes a great point, and she's quite correct.  It sounds like she does love the animals - she's telling you the truth.  Scientists, biologists, and environmentalists will tell you the same thing.   You should never feed birds processed human foods.   It's garbage, and it's not only unhealthy - it's deadly to the birds.  

Further, wildlife experts will also tell you that waterfowl should never be fed ANYTHING while natural foods are readily abundant.

You enjoy feeding the geese.  That's great for you, but what about the end result?  If you knew that were in fact harming the birds and the environment, would you keep doing it?

You will never find any wildlife expert who believes that feeding waterfowl is a good idea, they all agree it's one of the worst things you can do.   Here are the facts, from the State of New York:

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7001.html

http://ny.audubon.org/resolutions/pdf/wa...

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

http://www.conservationhamilton.ca/envir...

http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/f...

http://www.indianacountyparks.org/faqs/r...

http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connec...

http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display...

If you really love the geese, observe them in the wild, but please do not feed them.

btw... I was not the loonie in the truck.  I only yell at people who try to run them down on roads.

I know you have the best intentions, but you should reconsider.

Answer 8

A few of the web sites Suzi listed contain a number of myths and some blatant falsehoods. Nevertheless, I agree that feeding waterfowl can become problematic in a number of ways - for both the birds and humans, as well. Consequently, I don't encourage it but if bread is going to be fed to waterfowl, it's imperative it be done infrequently and in moderation, using whole grain or multi-grain bread only. It goes without saying that in areas where ordinances prohibit feeding, the law should be obeyed, especially for the sake of children if we want them to grow up respecting the law.