By Alice Johnston and Hamza Ali
Image credit: orencobirder via Compfight cc
Hackney’s ducks are too fat and need to slim down due to a diet of too much white bread, says a new report by the Canal and River Trust.
The public are being advised to feed the ducks in Hackney’s Regent’s Canal oats, corn and defrosted frozen peas instead of white bread that is also destroying the waterways and attracting rats.
But can the ducks break the habit of a lifetime?
We cobbled together a food selection that would make a bizarre picnic and strolled to Regent’s Canal to see if ducks would fall for our ploy – canning the carbs and getting some vegetables down their beaks.
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There were surprisingly few ducks to be found. Maybe they were hiding, sleeping off the previous night’s refined wheat binge. Given the amount of soggy white bread in the canal, we were worried that they wouldn’t be hungry.
We spied two ducks and threw them some white bread, which they ate. But when we tried to tempt them with kale, they turned their beaks up and paddled away.
Cheesestring, dried mango and marshmallows all went untouched. When we tried the suggested peas they sunk, leaving the ducks looking disgruntled.
At this point, we ducked out. Our feathered friends are unhealthy creatures of habit.
Nice video only that “moorhen” is a coot. And the picture at the top? I’ve never seen a mandarin duck in Hackney!
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