The Willamette ducks waddle along the grassy banks, quack at Willamette students and nap under the bridge in the afternoon. They are undoubtedly valuable members of Willamette’s community, yet their health is not a topic of concern. With how they are integrated into campus, it’s natural that there should be a way for the students to directly interact with them, and feeding the ducks is great for fostering that connection. However, with so many students and only a small flock of ducks, they often get overfed.
Behind the tool shed near first-year housing are two big trash cans full of duck food along with a 1-lb container to carry it. Students often fill the bucket with duck feed and find a place on campus to sit and feed the ducks. Because it’s a casual activity, there’s no regulation on who feeds the ducks how much and when.
While an organized system for the duck feed would be hard to manage — and take the fun out of the activity — maintaining a way for students to know how many times the ducks have been fed daily would be helpful to preserve their health. Perhaps a small whiteboard with tally marks could be posted above the duck food. The goal wouldn’t be to discourage people from participating, but it might make them more mindful in how much feed they take.
Another way we could ensure the health of our ducks is by decreasing the amount of feed available. The average pet duck requires 4-6 ounces of food per day. We only have around 20-30 ducks living on campus and a 1-pound container to feed them. Even if around 20 out of the 1,275 students at Willamette feed the ducks a full helping of the one-pound container per day — which is certainly plausible as students can often be observed completely filling the bucket and then tossing the remaining feed on the ground for the ducks to munch on — then it is way too much food for them, especially on a daily basis. Part of the reason this problem persists is because there is a lot of food available. Any student can grab a full bucket at any time of the day. If we were to limit the food to just one trash can and an 8-ounce container, then it would, again, help students be more mindful and physically limit how much they feed the ducks while maintaining their capacity to feed them.
It is a different kind of excitement to watch the ducks waddle up and snap pieces of corn and barley from one’s extended hand. It’s a way for students to connect not only to the ducks but to their peers and the nature around them. Parker Penchanksy (’28), says that feeding the ducks makes her feel “happy,” and “brightens her day.” This activity is certainly part of the quaint charm that Willamette is known for and should be easily accessible to anyone on campus. Making a few changes to the system to prevent overfeeding would keep the essence of the practice untouched and keep both duck and human happy and healthy.
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