Hello Tweets:

A few weeks back there was a brief discussion about feeding ducks. I used to
feed the ducks corn at "The Old Fishing Hole" in Kent to try and counter-
balance all the white bread they got from others. Then, when stories came out
in The Seattle Times about the problems caused by non-migrating ducks, I
stopped. About that time they also posted "do not feed the ducks" signs at
the fishing hole. It didn't stop some people from the bread routine, but it
did stop much of it and the duck population has decreased at that spot by more
than half. The fishing hole is filled with algae, and the ducks presence is a
large contributor to that problem.

Following is a clip from a story in today's Seattle Times about the "geese
police", officers with dogs who chase the geese (the dogs, not the officers)
along the waterfront. Thought it might be of interest to Tweeters:

<< The goose problem didn't exist a few decades ago. In the 1960s, there were
thought to be fewer than 100 Canada geese in the Seattle area. Now, there are
estimated to be 5,000, and each goose produces from 1 to 3 pounds of fecal
material a day.

That adds up to big piles of . . . debris.

Kirkland, which tried trapping and deporting geese and other waterfowl from
parks in the 1980s and early '90s, last year considered a half-dozen other
options, including replacing lawns with sand, planting shrubs along the
waterfront and starting a public-education campaign to discourage the feeding
of waterfowl. >> <snip>

the full story can be found at:

http://www.seattletimes.com/news/local/html98/goos_012798.html

Jim Brewster
Kent Washington