“You should not feed them. They will breed, multiply and become a public nuisance”, says one. Another says, “It affects the balance in the ecosystem. You should stop feeding them”. With sincerity and earnestness, another friend remarks, “You should never feed them! They are so naughty! They will scratch your door or window when you forget to feed them. They bring food up onto the rooftop and later, they will bite the roofing as it has the smell of food and thereby damage the roof”.  The above were some of responses I got when I told them that I have been feeding the wild rabbits and squirrels. 

At my new accomodation (I moved to a new place 5 months ago), I saw rabbits come out in the night to forage for food. So, I started putting food out on my front patio and this has become a routine. Then I noticed that squirrels would come in the mornings to finish off any remnants from the night before and this led to my feeding the squirrels as well. It is such a joy to see both rabbits and squirrels clean the plate every day and night. However, the disapproving remarks as above have lingered in my head and I have often wondered whether what I have been doing is the right thing. Am I helping or causing unintentional harm?

The core argument against feeding these wild animals is that the nature has its own way of managing the ecosystem and my feeding them is interfering with the natural order of things. Providing easy sustenance to them may contribute toward overbreeding. It may affect their diet (as these rabbits appear to love rice more than carrots!) and ability to fend for themselves if I were not around to feed them (e.g. when I travel). For some animals or birds, migration or hibernation is the mechanism to cope with extreme weather. Would making easy feeding during winter in Minnesota, discourage them from migrating to other places or hibernating and thereby disrupt the natural course of events?

If the core premise for not feeding the animals rest simply on “not tilting the scale”, it would then raise the following questions. Should we not feed the homeless people or street dogs? Is it ok to close our eyes to people dying from starvation in other parts of the world? Is doing animal liberation wrong? Shouldn’t we intervene in the cruel treatment of animals such as dogs being skinned alive in certain country? Should animal shelters be demolished and caring for animals be abolished? Food for thought.