Troop members, Amiyah, Breelyn & Patricia are seventh graders from Southwood Academy of the Arts (Breelyn & Patricia) and Robert Anderson College and Career Academy Amiyah).We are also Girl Scout Cadettes in Troop 2904. In fifth grade, we completed our Bronze Award and now we are working toward the Silver Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout Cadette can receive. The project we are completing will
bring proper feeding awareness to the residents of Anderson County (and beyond) of the many species of duck and wildlife surrounding Chris Taylor Park and it's beautiful pond located adjacent to the Anderson Civic Center in Anderson County. In 2013, The Anderson County Parks, Recreation and Tourism Division recently met with Wildlife Rehab of Greenville, the organization that assisted with the Duck Roundup, to discuss and develop a plan to effectively manage the duck population at Chris Taylor Park. The Anderson County Parks, Recreation and Tourism Division recently met with Wildlife Rehab of Greenville, the organization that assisted with last fall’s Duck Roundup, to discuss and develop a plan to effectively manage the duck population at Chris Taylor Park.
“Chris Taylor Park is a place of enjoyment and recreation for the families of our County,” said County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn. “Many residents come there to allow their children a place to play and interact with nature – and to many that includes watching the ducks on the pond. Staff and Council work together and strive to protect our natural resources and the wildlife that inhabit these spaces. We are currently collaborating with wildlife agencies to educate ourselves and the public while implementing the most safe and effective long-term management plan that will benefit our residents and at the same time, protect our wildlife. New signage stating ‘dumping animals is against the law’ will soon appear in the park. And since it is very detrimental, we also ask park visitors not to feed the ducks.”
After returning the ducks to the drained and cleaned pond, we discovered that this project needed attention to improve both the well-being of the animals and the care of the pond and area surrounding it. We taking several steps to educate the community about the care of duck and wildlife at the park. We are frequently visiting the park and spend time speaking with visitors about using the feed machines that have been placed at the park and distribute literature containing information about Do's and Dont's when feeding. We also bring pre-packaged zip bags containing the same portioned size feed that's dispensed from the machines to share with children who may be visiting from daycare centers or who may not have been prepared with $.25 to purchase from the machines. We will visit daycare centers to speak with children. We've spoken at PTO meetings to share information, one of which a group of parents volunteered to purchase materials as a donation and assist our troop with building duck boxes for the park. We also take every opportunity to include a brief presentation at all Girl Scout events we attend and if allowed play a fun "Jeopardy" game with questions about our presentation. We look forward to possibly extending our project into our Gold Award in a couple of years with the plan of including several areas within the park that could be addressed to help make Chris Taylor Park in Anderson County a top place of interest to visit among residents.
