At its Tuesday, June 6, meeting, Gulfport City Council unanimously passed ordinance 2017-05, which will make it illegal to feed and/or possess wildlife on any city-owned property.
The measure is partly a response to complaints from residents near Wood Ibis Park, who say visitors are feeding bread to the ducks in and around the park despite being admonished not to. The residents cite scientific evidence that says white bread meant for human consumption has little to no nutritional value for ducks and might even be harmful to their health.
“It’s killing the birds,” Town Shores resident Beverley Comstock said during public comment time. “We now have scientific studies [to prove it]. Times have changed, but people don’t want to change. They fight it; they say, ‘Why? Where’s the sign saying not to feed [wildlife]? It doesn’t hurt the birds.’ They just can’t believe it. We need education here.”
Comstock went on to say that she’s seen rats scurrying around Wood Ibis Park – presumably a result of the proliferation of bread crumbs being strewn about by park visitors. “It’s a public nuisance,” she said. “There are at least 10 people a day coming to feed [the ducks] with whole loaves of bread.”
The ordinance constitutes an amendment to a section of the city code pertaining to streets, sidewalks, parks and parkways. City Manager Jim O’Reilly said the revision will bring Gulfport into alignment with Pinellas County regarding mistreatment of wildlife on publicly owned land, not just parks, meaning that feeding wildlife on sidewalks and other areas outside park boundaries will also be prohibited.
“Basically what we’ve done is adopt the county’s language,” he said. “Hopefully this will deal with some of the issues we’ve realized, specifically at Tomlinson Park and Wood Ibis Park.”
The Gulfport Police Department told the Gabber that a first offense would be considered a Class 5 code violation and would come with a $93 fine.
