Feeding animals around the world

Giraffes at the Baltimore Zoo.

Coatimundi at Tikal, Guatemala

Have you ever taken a child to a petting zoo? Have you ever slipped in by yourself, trying to look like you’re there with a child? My daughter-in-law Terri once talked me into going to a children’s event where we could feed giraffes. It was a little embarrassing but much fun!
 
I’m not sure why we love to feed animals. The exciting connection? The opportunity to see animals up close? The frisson of danger? The pure pleasure of pleasing them?

I’ve seen animals fed all over the world. On a bayou tour outside New Orleans, our boat pilot gave us marshmallows to drop into the water to attract alligators. And they came! They knew he had chicken for them. In Grand Cayman I swam with stingrays, and in Belize I swam with big brown nurse sharks – attracted by food. Some dive boat operators attract schools of brilliantly colored reef fish, causing a feeding frenzy among the fish – and the snorkelers (feeding on the experience). Environmentalists oppose this kind of feeding because it disrupts the natural relationships and behavior of animals.
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​At Tikal in Guatemala, there were coatimundi (the coati is a tropical animal related to the raccoon) boldly searching out scraps in a picnic area. In Morocco, endangered Barbary macaques, (a species of Old World monkeys) came to a remote intersection of roads, where tourists stop to feed them. In Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica, White-faced Capuchin monkeys patrol the beach for treasures ranging from bags of potato chips to expensive cameras or iPhones, anything left unattended. At home in our suburbs, raccoons and skunks eat from our trashcans or compost piles. When wild animals are enticed to mix with people, it can be dangerous to both. Animals are exposed to traffic, litter, and unhealthy food; humans may be exposed to disease or injury.

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Barbary macaque in Morocco

Barbary macaque closer!

As animals lose more and more habitat, we seek to find ways of living together. It’s complicated. In our woods, there is room for them and us. We live with lots of wildlife and coax the animals to come to our feeder where we can see and study them. I put out a coffee can of dried corn each day for a herd of 7-14 deer, in addition to birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits. It’s enough to attract them but not so much that they are dependent on us for food. Is this a good practice?

A squirrel found this pumpkin in our compost pile.

​In Costa Rica, environmentalists try to educate hotel and restaurant owners not to put out fruit to attract hummingbirds. When the hummers eat sweet pineapple, they’re not doing their work as pollinators. And in the rainforests, there are very tight symbiotic relationships between species. A specific flower may be shaped to accommodate the beak of a specific hummingbird, so that those two are dependent on each other. Since visitors love to see these gorgeous little birds, a better practice for attracting them would be to plant gardens with the flowers they need – and that need them.

White-faced capuchin at Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica

An owl butterfly attracted to a banana in Costa Rica.

A pineapple can attract hummingbirds.

A tropical garden in Arenal, Costa Rica, attracts birds and butterflies.

Unidentified hummingbird in Panama.

That’s another subject for another blog … “planting for wildlife.” And another … “attracting pollinators.” So much to write and so much to learn.