David Sakin, during a presentation to WW2A, holding a Barn Owl.
David Sadkin, Ph.D., education director at Wildelife, Inc. In his presentation to residents, he convinced us to not feed the birds. Though WW2A Association has a rule that prohibits feeding wildlife (as suggested by the Department of Fish and Wildlife), some residents want to draw birds closer to their windows.
Oh boy, I understand that.
When we lived in Columbus, OH, we put out feeders and suet boxes right next to a lookout over a ravine—the habitat and guidelines in Ohio differ from those here in Florida.
At the talk, someone said that some neighbors feed the ducks regularly (usually cereals like Cheerios). Sadkin said this about feeding birds here in Wildewood Springs.
"Don't do it.
You have many duck species here. Please don't feed ducks.
Birds can't digest bread. The only birds that can metabolize bread are probably New York City pigeons. Birds don't have the enzymes to break down bread protein. (This includes Cheerios, crackers, or whatever you find as leftovers in your pantry.) What bread, cereals, and crackers do is pull the calcium out of their bones. And they get what is called soft-bone disease. It's incurable and it's a terrible way to die. Plus the birds become dependent on you for food.
If you want to attract animals, put in the type of plants that attract butterflies. Or plant what attracts birds naturally. Take care of your pond and it will feed the ducks. The less artificiality the better.
One downside about feeders—if you're feeding migratory birds, you need to cut off their food at the time that they normally migrate. Or they won't leave. What triggers migration is the loss of their food source. If a bird misses a migratory cycle, it will never migrate again. Canadian Goose is now a problem because of feeding and missed migration. The population has grown.
Keep this in mind: what falls from the feeder is food for mice, rats, and raccoons. We want wildlife to get their food from nature."
Someone else asked Sadkin about raccoons as pests. He responded by inspiring us to address why raccoons have become a nuisance. He said that the ground under those bird feeders become leftovers for wildlife (raccoons, vermin) as well as unsecured garbage bins.
Here's what Sadkin said about controlling mice and rats:
Do you know the best way to reduce your mice and rat population? Install Owl boxes. (A couple Barn Owls gobble up up to 2000 vermin a year.) But if you do install boxes, do not let your pesticide company put out any poisons. When an owl or raptor, or any other animal eats a mouse or rat that ate the poison—you know what is in the poison, right? Warfarin. The animal's death is terrible.
I'm dreaming about the possibility of owl nesting boxes in Wildewood and that many more neighbors join our growing curiosity about ways to care for Wildewood's certified Audubon Wildlife habitat.
