As much fun as it is (and lets face it we have all done it!) we unfortunately only tend to feed those animals which are already numerous and ‘people friendly’. We can therefore provide an advantage to these animals and birds by making them stronger and a disadvantage to those not so aggressive.
Other disadvantages of feeding our wildlife include:
– foods are often given which are detrimental to an animals health, such as bread.
– they may not develop the correct skills in finding their own food.
– not all people are ‘wildlife friendly’ so it is sometimes better if an animal learns not to approach humans for food.
If we can’t stop you from feeding wildlife the minimum we ask is that you feed them at irregular intervals (a morning one week, an afternoon the next) so they cannot rely on this food source and will retain their hunting/foraging skills.