It may appear that a pile of potatoes have been dumped for no reason at Comox Bay Farm.
However, the potatoes are culled and therefore unsuitable to sell.
For human consumption, that is.
"Basically they provide really, really good swan food," said Ivy Whitehorne of Ducks Unlimited Canada. "The swans will devour the entire pile in a surprisingly short amount of time."
The defective spuds also help to prevent swans from eating farmers' crops.
"Swans like them but you probably don't want to put them in your oven to roast," Whitehorne said. "We manage Comox Bay Farm to provide food for waterfowl, and the idea is that it's an area that's undisturbed. They can come in and feed, and that will draw them off of other farmers' fields, and reduce damage to the neighboring area."
Ducks Unlimited requests the public to not disturb swans in the field.
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com