Please, for the sake of the lake, the ducks, and for those of us who try to enjoy the lake, please don’t feed the ducks!
Feeding the waterfowl can cause swimmer’s itch. Swimmers’ itch is a skin rash caused by an allergic reaction to contact with certain parasites of birds and mammals found in the water.
Feeding the waterfowl can make swimmers sick. When waterfowl defecate near shore or in the water they create a health risk to humans.
Feeding the waterfowl pollutes the lake. Not only could the fecal matter excreted into the water by ducks and geese possibly contain the swimmers itch organism, it definitely contains E.coli bacteria, and it certainly contains the nutrient phosphorus. When present in excessive quantities in a lake, phosphorus can cause unsightly and foul-smelling algae blooms and possibly even toxic cyanobacteria blooms to occur.
Feeding bread to ducks and geese is like feeding children candy before dinner. Ducks and geese seem to like bread and will beg for it. Bread has no nutritional value for waterfowl—it just fills up their stomachs, leaving little room for them to eat the natural foods they need to remain healthy.
To view and read more information from NH Lakes Association and the NH Department of Environmental Services on reasons to not feed duck, click links below to open and read .pdf documents.
