Walking along the canal in Broad Ripple is interesting in the winter months. There are many varieties of ducks that live on the canal, seeking unfrozen water and food from the habitat. Some have decided to stay at the "easy eatery" rather than migrate. There are those that rather resemble Big Bird - needing to shed a few pounds.

Perhaps ducks have rushed you to beg for food or maybe you've observed people tossing bread, cereal or other stale carbs to ducks, apparently thinking this is helping Mother Nature. Wrong! Most naturalists and wildlife experts are in full agreement: Do not feed the ducks. I repeat, do not feed the ducks! They are quite capable of finding their own food and, if left to fend as nature intended, will move to new habitats that are more desirable or migrate thus keeping duck populations under control.

Did you know that in 1996, local naturalists and environmentalists relocated ducks and geese due to overcrowding and traffic concerns? This overcrowding may have been caused by feeding our canal friends. But let me point out some data from www.liveducks.com that really brought the issue of NOT FEEDING DUCKS to this column:

Feeding ducks can cause overcrowding of the duck population and their delayed or canceled migration plans. Ducks that should have migrated are often seen on the canal because of human feeding. One last caution is: don't throw coins in the areas where ducks live. They scour the canal bottom and could ingest the coin. There is enough zinc in a single penny to kill a duck.

Remember for every person that is seen feeding ducks there are many you don't see. So if you are walking on the canal, ask those folks who haven't read this article not to feed the duck. Educate them and hopefully we will always have a healthy duck population that has been synonymous with Broad Ripple. Remember that respecting and protecting ducks means not feeding them. PLEASE, DO NOT FEED THE DUCKS! Be content with simply identifying and enjoying them. You may see there's plenty of satisfaction to be found in simply observing.