Never Feed The Geese Bread In Great Falls

Growing up in Montana, going to a local park and feeding the ducks and geese was almost a right of passage. Especially when you encounter that angry goose that decides to chase you, hoping you'll drop your entire bag of treats. I'm sure many of you can relate. Haha. Feeding the wildlife is less than ideal, but it turns out that junk food can do some damage, much like humans.

Impacts Of Feeding The Ducks And Geese

Growing up, we were always told that feeding wildlife isn't a good idea. However, that never seemed to apply to ducks and geese. It's no secret that the more you feed wildlife, the more dependent they become on human food, eventually reaching the point where they can't fend for themselves. But the real issue lies with malnutrition.

Angel Wing Syndrome

As I mentioned above, much like humans, an unbalanced diet consisting primarily of carbohydrates isn't good for any living creature. However, after some research, I discovered that prolonged malnutrition in birds, mainly waterfowl species, causes Angel Wing Syndrome. This is also known as airplane wing, slipped wing, crooked wing, and drooped wing. To my understanding, this causes deformities in the wings of waterfowls and causes the feathers to point out. Look up pictures; it's pretty sad to see what it causes.

I'm not the kind of person to tell you how to live your life, but keep this in mind next time you're kicking around the idea of feeding bread to the geese or ducks.

Related: What Happens If You Run Over A Goose In Great Falls?