Feeding of Wildlife
 

If we have some bread that is getting stale, is their a place in The Villages to feed the ducks, squirrels, or wildlife? (rather than letting the food go to waste)

Don't feed bread....it just fills them up and has no nutritional value

In general, FL law, do not feed the wild life.

If you want to feed the wild life...put a bird feeder with plenty of food for all kinds of birds (even a bird house or two)... esp during the winter months where they have a harder time finding food to keep themselves warm. Squirrels will enjoy too, sometimes I put peanuts down for them, that is in the shell. Keep in mind they WILL start to rely on YOU as a food source, but a bird feeder and bird bath is perfect. As for ducks, no bread, don't feed, there is plenty of food out there for them as other wild life. They should not get tooooo friendly with people, its not good for them.

Don't feed bread to birds or any other wildlife. All that does is fill their bellies, and ultimately starve them of nutrition. They suffer when you do that.

If you want to feed them, feed them species-specific food. Most birds eat worms, bugs, small fish, nuts, seeds, and will eat dried or fresh cut vegetables. NOT corn. Hawks generally eat small rodents, kittens, small dogs, turtle eggs, fish, and some lizards. Lizards eat insects and bugs.

If you have bread that's going stale, drizzle it with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic salt, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and cut it into croutons for your salad. Or add a splash of milk as the filler for meatballs or meatloaf.

We used to make small hard balls of bread, throw it in the lake and as we put it "sink the ducks" as they go diving for it. Probably not PC or 'Mother Nature friendly' but fun all the same.

Bird feeders attract mice and rats.

The best thing to do is to NOT feed wild animals, every.

Please don’t. The wildlife can become a nuisance and it is bad for their health. The few moments you get out of it, just isn’t worth the consequences.

Bread is the WORST thing you can give to ducks, birds, etc. Google it.

Against TV rules of feeding wildlife...
:ohdear::ohdear::ohdear:

Feeding bread to squirrels has the lovely side effect of molding in the squirrels’ caches and destroying the good quality food they saved up for the winter. If you want to keep the squirrel population down by starving them, then feed them bread.

Really. Never feed any wildlife anything.

She asked what to do with stale bread. Not a menu of what the wildlife would “prefer”. Besides, you shouldnt be feeding ducks, squirrels or any wildlife. All that will happen,especially with the ducks, is they will constantly keep coming back and deficating all over your lawn.

Use stale bread by either throwing it into your food processor and turning it into breadcrumbs which can be seasoned and used to coat fried chicken or fish etc. or cut it up into cubes about 3/4 inch spead out on a baking tray and put a good glug of olive oil over them with some crushed garlic and toast them in the oven (watch them they will burn in a heartbeat) store in an airtight tin or plastic tub ...ideal for a topping on your soups !! Yumm ! Waste not want not !

2 things immediately come to mind. You can dry the bread out, make bread crumbs, freeze them and use as needed, plain or adding seasoning. Better yet, dry slightly, cut into cubes and make bread pudding.