Do you like flocking to the park to watch the gaggle of geese and mallards that have made the lower pond their temporary home? It is a heartwarming sight, but it isn’t exactly an ideal location for breeding. Currently, a devoted pair of Canada geese and their 3 youngsters and a new brood of 6 tiny mallards and their parents have set up camp at the pond. Because they are trapped by the concrete wall, the City PRT staff is working to design a type of ramp out of the water so that they can stand on level ground inside the fence. Since the geese are primarily grass and sedge feeders in the summer and mallards share a similar diet, they need to be able to fly to dry land for food. We hope that the babies survive long enough to grow their feathers so that they can take flight.
Other wildlife in the pond competing for food sources are the ravenous giant grass carp in the pond, along with red eared slider turtles. They don’t prefer baby ducklings for their meals, but a snapping turtle will happily gobble up a baby mallard duckling if it has the energy to catch it!
It is important that human fans of our local wildlife do not feed “people” food such as bread and chips to the ducks. Junk food has no nutritional value for our feathered friends and can cause painful deformities.
We are happy that our urban waterfowl are drawn to the park, just like we are! Let’s be respectful of their desire to co-exist with us at Legacy Park.
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