Many of the small bodies of water you see along a road or on a farm are most likely millponds. Millponds can be found throughout our state and are enjoyed by many. They are bodies of fresh water that were used as reservoirs for water-powered mills in the old days and now are used for field irrigation and/or recreation.
Whether you are aware of our over 200 millponds or not, the majority of them can be found in Sussex County and are privately owned. Outdoor enthusiasts enjoy these millponds by fishing, boating, birding and kayaking. Some of the creatures that can be found in and around millponds are carp, crappie, pickerel, bass, red foxes, white-tailed deer, beavers, muskrats, raccoons, feral cats, ducks, geese, swans, hawks, eagles, herons, egrets, and many sparrows and warblers. There also are reptiles, such as snapping and painted turtles and red-eared sliders; snakes, including rat and garter snakes; and amphibians, such as New Jersey chorus frogs, bullfrogs, American toads and spring peepers.
But interspersed with these animals are potentially dangerous and deadly objects of debris or litter. Once litter is seen and not picked up, people tend to add to it rather than disposing of it, and the fact that the litter is not in their neighborhood adds to their ignoring it. Animals may mistake the litter that is either floating or on the water’s edge as food or a plaything and could choke on it or become entangled in it.
Litter is bad both for the animals and for the environment. Litter is a visual most people don’t want to see; not cleaning up litter is costly to the economy and can cause issues with society; it can lead to soil, water and air pollution and may become a breeding ground for all those hungry mosquitoes.
Worldwide, there are estimates that 1 million birds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles die annually as a result of eating plastic or getting trapped in fishing lines.
Some good news is that Sussex County has partnered with the Delaware Department of Correction and the Delaware Department of Transportation to tackle roadside litter and illegal dumping, but we need to do our share of the maintenance of our millponds.
During just 30 minutes of collecting trash, we gathered cans, bottles, fishing gear and Styrofoam from the water’s edge. Let’s stop littering and start enjoying our natural resources. We all need to do our part when it comes to litter and the disposal of waste — meaning, dispose of all trash responsibly, place the trash in a receptacle and separate the waste into recycling and general waste.
Remember: Litter and you’re rubbish.
Nancy Kassner
Lincoln
