LINCOLN – Officials are asking people to stop feeding the growing number of ducks that are gathering in Prince Thomas Park near the public boat landing on Mattanawcook Lake.

Sharing a few french fries with a few ducks became an overwhelming experience for a young woman and her niece and nephew on Tuesday. What started out as a few ducks paddling to shore for a bit of food quickly turned into several dozen.

“I know it is fun to feed the ducks, but we are respectfully asking people not to feed the ducks and compound the issue any worse than it already is,” said Town Manager Glenn Aho.

Town officials are concerned about the growing number of ducks gathering near the park and next month may consider an ordinance prohibiting people from feeding them.

“The high concentration of [duck] feces can affect the water quality,” said Aho. “It has not yet become a health issue, but it could.”

The many ducks are covering the wharf and public boat landing on the lake with feces on a daily basis. At one point, it was so bad, officials had the town’s fire department use high-pressure water hoses to clean it off.

Aho says he has nothing against ducks, but something must be done before the problem gets worse. “Our issues are liability, health and sanitation and water quality,” he said.

The manager said many people, especially children, frequently swim in the same area.

“The problem is the ducks keep returning in larger numbers day by day,” Aho told members of the Town Council earlier this week.

“They are very docile even though they are wild ducks,” Aho said. “At this point they are creating a nuisance and at this time there is nothing we can do without some kind of ordinance.”

Aho said the town is considering an ordinance that will eventually alleviate the problem.

Members of the council agreed something must be done to address the problem. “The quicker the better,” said Councilor John Weatherbee.

“It’s quite a mess down there. Every day you go down there it’s still the same even after you clean it up,” said Chairman Rod Carr. “There had to be 50 ducks or more down there.”

The problem of large numbers of ducks gathering wherever people are willing to feed them has been an ongoing problem for many years.

“The problem keeps migrating around town where people feed the ducks,” Aho said.