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Visitors to Harrogate's much-loved Valley Gardens have been urged in the past at times not to feed ducks and a sad piece of news from a Harrogate Advertiser reader reveals why really we should be heeding that message.

One of the last acts of Harrogate Borough Council in 2023 before it was abolished in a major shake-up of local government was to erect a sign in the town's historic Victorian 17-acre public park warning people not to feed the ducks.

This wasn't just out of concern about creating overfed ducks.

The sign was meant to highlight the risks of discarded bits of food attracting rodents.

'Wildlife emergency'' - The lovely ducks in the Valley Gardens in Harrogate which are threatened by rodents. (Picture contributed)

The advice has turned out to be fully warranted.

This week has seen an enquiry from reader Danielle Treanor who had some sad news to pass on.

Warning of a wildlife emergency in the Valley Gardens, she writes: "My little boy and I have been monitoring the demise of a family of tiny ducklings in the park.

"They have been destroyed by water rats over the course of a couple of weeks.

"We’re really sad about it. We’ve tried in vain to alert the park keepers and we have also notified North Yorkshire Council without success so far."

But there is a silver lining to this dark cloud affecting the habitat of the Valley Gardens.

There are now reports of the arrival in the Valley Gardens of a brand new set of 12 small, newly-hatched ducks.

And Danielle and her little boy are determined not to let them suffer the same fate.

Harrogate Advertiser reader issues alert in Valley Gardens over 'wildlife emergency' impacting on ducklings