Prohibit feeding wildlife and fowl? Miami Springs says no. But ‘awareness campaign’ OK’d

A proposed Miami Springs’ ordinance that would have outlawed feeding wildlife that includes “living things, especially mammals,” was mainly for the birds.

“Although it might seem harmless and cute to feed a squirrel at a park bench or ducks at the local waterways, these activities can lead to increased habituation and unwanted behavior,” Miami Springs Vice Mayor Jacky Bravo said. “If you notice on the ordinance, I did exclude with restriction the songbirds because we are a bird sanctuary and I like to see birds. I see them all the time.”

However, other fowl was fair game, said Bravo, who proposed her “wildlife and fowl feeding prohibited” ordinance at the Oct. 11 City Council meeting. The law would have banned duck feeding along canals, she said, and Miami Springs would use its code compliance agents and police officers as “enforcement.”

Bravo defined wildlife, in her 37-page memo, as “living things, especially mammals, birds, and fishes that are neither human nor domesticated.” She also pointed to a 1965 Coral Gables ordinance that makes it unlawful in that city to keep or feed pigeons.

Bravo said the “legislative intent” of her ordinance was:

“To prohibit citizens from intentionally or knowingly feeding or attracting the wildlife within city limits. To prohibit feeding and taming of unconfined wildlife on any private property, city property or any property operated by the City of Miami Springs, so as to protect public health, safety and welfare for both humans, domestic animals and wildlife and to provide warning and impose penalties for failure to comply.”

Miami Springs is a three-square-mile city, population 14,000, that sits just north of Miami International Airport. The city is a bird sanctuary that does not have a wildlife feeding ordinance.

Wildlife in Miami Springs

In 1994, Miami Springs joined the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA program, and its lush tree canopy and green spaces naturally attracted wildlife, which has led to confrontations between the city, its residents, and the animals.

In 2016, the Herald reported that Miami Springs killed dozens of raccoons wandering the city’s golf course.

“The situation became a danger to humans,” said Paul O’Dell, golf course director. “We had our golfers and maintenance staff being endangered by aggressive raccoons going into golf carts to look for food and hissing at our staff.”

O’Dell said the 150 raccoons he spotted on the course “in the middle of the day” preferred the 15th and 16th holes.

The raccoon “massacre” was halted after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued a national alert and irate activists rang the phone off the hook at Miami Springs City Hall.

Once animals learn to be unafraid of humans, they may see them as a food source and approach them for food, a local wildlife expert says.

“The first problem is that once they feed these animals, the animals lose their natural fear of humans and instead, associate them with food and will actually approach people looking for food,” said Ron Magill, Zoo Miami spokesman. “This becomes a safety issue with animals like alligators and bears but also a nuisance issue with animals like Muscovy ducks, peafowl and even raccoons.”

In 2013, the Herald reported that a grandmother out for a stroll near the Ludlam Road bike path fought back after being attacked “suddenly and without warning” by a wild duck.

“It was a vicious, aggressive duck that came after us from across the street,” former Miami Springs Councilwoman Rosie Buckner told police.

Aside from residents who feed local wildlife, some chase them down and eat them.

In 2019, the Herald reported that a mysterious “duck-napper” was seen driving around Miami Springs late at night running down ducks, then tossing them in the back of a Toyota Tacoma before speeding away with the lights off.

Police caught up with the man and told him he needed a permit from the city to capture the birds, according to a witness, before letting him go.

“He told the cops he was eating them,” the witness said.

Surveillance photos taken

In preparation for the meeting, Vice Mayor Bravo went around the city snapping “disturbing” surveillance photos that she shared at the council meeting.

“Apparently, this person hands out food to her cats, but she doesn’t pick up the bowls afterwards,” Bravo said. “It was pretty disturbing to see what I saw.”

It remains unclear why Bravo’s PowerPoint presentation was not shared with online meeting viewers. As council members and city leaders carefully analyzed Bravo’s slides on a large projector, the screen was not shared with the public via the meeting’s livestream. An archived recording of the meeting also did not include the slides Bravo showed on another screen.

The Herald obtained a copy of Bravo’s Oct. 11 PowerPoint presentation through a public record’s request. Bravo’s slides included photos of ducks walking single-file near a sidewalk, ducks on a roof, a woman bent over as a duck walks her way, feed bowls left outside on private property, and birds on a utility line.

Laney Silver, the city’s most respected animal-rights activist, thinks that Bravo’s proposed feeding ordinance was ill-conceived. A wiser approach, she says, would be a targeted educational campaign.

“Every problem should not be dealt with through legislation or creating an ordinance,” said Silver, who often sets out before dawn each day to care for community cats about Miami Springs. “The city should get the educational materials together, go to problem houses, and explain the rules.”

After Bravo’s detailed presentation, which also proposed regulating bird feeders and describing the dangers of “polyurethane” pet bowls, Miami Springs Mayor Maria Mitchell quickly shot down the proposed ordinance and instead suggested an awareness drive.

“Are we really going to tax our police and our code enforcement and deplete our resources to respond to someone’s bird feeder or to respond to someone who is feeding ducks?” Mitchell said. “I don’t want to regulate what someone can and can’t feed in their backyard.”

“Perhaps what we need to do is do a campaign before we create another ordinance,” Mitchell said.

After plans to create a new ordinance were nixed, the City Council voted 5-0 to pass a motion for an awareness campaign via social media.

“The bottom line is that people should not feed any wild animals,” Magill said. “It can create a dependency that in the end only hurts the animal that you think you are trying to help.”

The next Miami Springs City Council meeting is at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 8, at 201 Westward Dr. The meeting will be broadcast live at https://www.miamisprings-fl.gov/meetings.

Those who cannot attend in person may email their comments, which will become part of the meeting’s official record, to cityclerk@miamisprings-fl.gov.

This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 9:00 AM.