The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) will be enforcing its new law regarding the feeding of wild animals starting March 1. Beginning Saturday, it will be illegal to to feed grain, seed or other types of manufactured food to wild animals.This law was developed and started last year to protect animals from predators and disease. Biologist figure that feeding wild animals causes them to congregate too much, creating the potential for disease to spread and giving predators easy targets. The law prohibits the feeding of wild creatures until May 31. Last year, the no-feed period was a bit longer.
It's unfortunate that man can't help his friendly creatures right now because they've had a rough winter thanks to last spring's late frost and a drought last summer. Food sources have been very limited this winter and the last few weeks of cold, harsh weather has made survival difficult. That point is well illustrated by the accompanying photograph sent to me by Buddy and Mary Jane Watson of Frances. A couple of hen turkeys had found a way to rob the bird feeder behind their home on Brushy Pond.
One thing to note about the KDFWR's feeding prohibition: It does not make it illegal to feed wildlife in your backyard. It's aimed primarily at hunters who pile up corn and other types of food for animals in various locations on their hunting property. So keep pouring the bird seed to those cardinals ... and turkeys!
