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Artificial feeding often attracts birds to human habitats, parking lots, fast-food restaurants, and retention ponds, where they are more subject to accidental death. Natural cover, which can provide protection from bad weather and predators (even dogs and cats), is often lacking at these feeding sites. Waterfowl can rapidly become conditioned to, and dependent on, handouts. Fed ducks and geese behave differently. They 1-1 become more aggressive and eventually lose their wariness of humans. Some will not survive because they can't compete. Many will lose the quality which endears them to most of us, their wildness. Fed ducks and geese behave differently. They become more aggressive and eventually lose their wariness of humans. Some will not survive because they can't compete. Dependence upon humans for food causes: • Loss of their natural fear of humans, which creates aggressive behavior. • Concentration of birds near highways and airports, potentially causing motor vehicle and airplane accidents. Overpopulation of small wetlands and ponds. Delay or halting of migration to natural wintering or nestingsites. Disease Lowered nutrition and overpopulation allow disease to spread more quickly, potentially infecting thousand of birds with fatal diseases such as Avian Cholera, Duck Plague, Avian Influenza and Avian Botulism. Although these diseases have always existed in waterfowl populations, the risks from the diseases increase when populations become concentrated at feeding sites. When ducks and geese feed on scattered corn or bread, they eat in the same place where they defecate. Not healthy. In addition, large concentrations of waterfowl would facilitate the spread of disease. Also not healthy. Diseases generally not transmissible in a wild setting find overcrowded and unsanitary conditions very favorable. An infected bird may spread the disease to many other birds by infecting the water supply. When the birds are scattered over a large area this does Diseases generally not transmissible in a not pose a serious problem. However, when the wild setting find overcrowded and birds are bunched close together, their chances unsanitary conditions very favorable. of contracting disease increase and the result may be disastrous. Canada goose feces contain disease -causing organisms which include salmonella, giardia and cryptosporidium. While there are no proven links of human illness from exposure to the droppings from Canada Geese, some dogs seem to be particularly susceptible to giardia. You should keep your dog from snacking on goose droppings while out on walks. Most waterfowl die -offs in the past 10 years have involved artificial feeding: • 2,000 mallards and black ducks were killed in an outbreak of Duck Virus Enteritis in Central New York. • Another fatal disease, Aspergillus, occurs when food is scattered too liberally. It piles up and becomes moldy. • In Cheektowaga, New York, hundreds of ducks were killed in an outbreak of Avian Botulism at a feeding site. 0