Posted on 12/14/2006 6:42:46 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Over 1,000 mallard ducks die in Idaho
By JESSE HARLAN ALDERMAN, Associated Press Writer
Wed Dec 13, 7:37 PM ET
BOISE, Idaho - More than 1,000 mallard ducks have died along a single creek in southern Idaho, and officials on Wednesday tested tissue samples to find out why.
ADVERTISEMENT
The symptoms — lesions in the lungs and hemorrhaging in the heart wall — likely point to a bacterial infection, not avian flu, said Dave Parrish, regional supervisor for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
State wildlife biologists and U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigators were not ruling out any cause of death.
Migrating mallards from Canada and their local cousins were still perishing at Land Springs Creek near Oakley, about 180 miles southeast of Boise. Birds stagger and struggle to breathe before collapsing, said Parrish.
"There were dead mallards everywhere — in the water and on the banks. It was odd, they were in a very small area," Parrish said.
The outbreak puzzles scientists because only mallard ducks are dying. Golden eagles, geese, magpies, crows and other birds in the area all remain healthy, Parrish said.
Tissue samples from the ducks and water samples from the creek were sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service national laboratory in Wisconsin, the University of Idaho and Washington State University. Results were expected Thursday.
The remote waterway is surrounded by farm land. A cattle feedlot is close by and several corn and alfalfa feeds ring the nearby town of Oakley.
Parrish said the ducks may have eaten grain treated with pesticides, or farming chemicals might have spilled into the creek.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1753368/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1753218/posts
Where was Elmer Fudd?
..did they clutch their heart,look up and say "this is the big one Emma"
Doogle
Damn you, you beat me to it.
Better yet, where was Cheney?
Mallard Fillmore is Deeply Saddened.
Second-hand smoke, no doubt.
Polonium-210
Bush's fault...naturally.
Actually it was Elizabeth...but who's counting.
The majority of those mallards are drakes. I only see 3 or 4 hens. Wonder why?
..ducks can't pronounce Elisibiff
Doogle
Viagra
HA! Best cover-up of an error I have ever seen.
Avian Botulism..
http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/content/abstract/19/2/90
I think that is Elizabeth
:)...it scares me too...but the concious has gotten used to it
Could be. Apparently, mallard drakes are notorious for screwing any type of female duck available. I've seen pictures of some really weird interspecies mutant ducks - half mallard and half widgeon, or pintail, or gadwall, or black.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.