Tonight when I went out to care for my horses, a crow was dead in my horse's water bucket. I had noticed in the past crows gathering, drinking, bathing in the water buckets... they are large buckets... pictured here, behind the dog: Webshots pic
I am surprised if a healthy crow would drown in there... they are not big enough that a crow who fell in should not be able to fly or jump out. I worry that it was sick. For the horse's safety I washed both troughs out with bleach and refilled them, but back to the story for now.
The interesting thing about this story is the behavior of the other crows... I picked up the dead bird by the feet and walked with it out of the paddock and into my woods. Then I noticed a crow in a nearby tree squaking loudly. When I passed behind the barn, it flew to another perch where it could watch me. It clearly cared that I was carrying the crow.
I walked down a path laid it off the path out in my woods, and the other crow followed and squawked the whole time. Other crows began coming and for the next 20 minutes or so, there was a LOT of squawking... Several crows gathering back in the woods where I had laid the dead crow. I could not see after I walked away, but I assume they found and checked out the dead one. After awhile it quieted down.
I was touched that it seemed very much that the crows were upset and caring and/or grieving the loss of one. I don't know a thing about crows, and would not have thought necessarily that they had a closely bonded flock, or a dedicated mate. Is there a bird expert or wildlife biologist in the house? Or any idea, if it was a diseased bird, if washing out the bucket with bleach was sufficient?
Crows are notoriously communal. My hunter/gatherer son has a tape of crows in disress that he plays from a portable sound system. Within minutes crows are circling and calling overhead. The longer you play it, the more crows come, from miles and miles away. It is the MOST incredible thing to see. BTW, he also shoots some of the crows. They do tremendous crop damage to our orchard and farm. The flocks have to be thinned out once in a while and this is the most efficient way of doing that unpleasant task. &;-)
I assume they found and checked out the dead one.
Are you sure they weren't around to scavenge it?
Maybe they were the Crebain from Bodega Bay.
Story is online here.
http://www.timesdaily.com/news/stories/21195newsstories.html
West Nile virus spreads through state
By Dennis Sherer
Staff Writer
July 18, 2002
Email this story.
Birds infected with the West Nile virus have now been found in Alabama from the Tennessee border all they way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Alabama Department of Public Health officials announced last week that a dead blue jay found in Waterloo on July 1 was infected with the disease that is transmitted by mosquitoes.
State health officials are urging Shoals residents to not panic about the virus that can be transmitted to humans. But they are asking residents to take precautions to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.
In rare instances, West Nile virus can be fatal in humans.
There have been no reports of humans in the Shoals being infected with the virus.
At the opposite end of the state, Mobile County health officials are urging residents there to be cautious after 11 dead blue jays tested positive for West Nile virus last week.
No humans in the Mobile area have been infected, but the latest confirmations brought to 13 the number of birds in the county to test positive for the mosquito-borne virus, which first arrived in the United States in 1999.
"The best thing to do is to take simple precautions to limit exposure to mosquitoes,'' said Dr. Bert Eichold, Mobile County health officer.
Entomologist Kelly Michar, head of the county Health Department's Vector Control Division, said the sudden sharp increase does not indicate that the danger to humans has increased by an equal amount.
"The birds are just a very, very good indication that the virus is circulating between the birds and the mosquitoes,'' Michar said.
The disease cannot be transmitted directly from birds to humans or humans to humans.
It can only be transmitted by mosquitoes.
The Tennessee Valley Authority collects mosquitoes throughout the Valley and sends them to a laboratory to be tested for West Nile virus and other diseases.
The mosquitoes are sent to TVA's Environmental Research Center in Muscle Shoals to be separated into species known to transmit diseases to humans and those that do not.
Since collection began in June, none of the mosquitoes sent from the Muscle Shoals facility have tested positive for West Nile virus or other diseases, said TVA spokesman Terry Johnson.
To cut down on the risk of infection, people were urged to remove standing water where mosquitoes breed, wear insect repellent containing DEET, halt use of perfumed and scented cosmetics and toiletries, and stay indoors at dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are most active.
Health officials said only about 1 percent of mosquitoes are infected with West Nile virus. Less than 1 percent of the people bitten by the infected mosquitoes will contract West Nile virus.
Healthy adults will probably not realize they have been infected with the virus, said TVA entomologist Ken Tennessen.
Symptoms of the virus in mild cases include body aches and could be mistaken for the flu. In serious cases, the symptoms include a headache and neck stiffness.
Alabama is not the only state where West Nile virus has been discovered. It has been found from Connecticut all the way to Texas.
A dead blue jay found in southeast Missouri was infected with the West Nile virus - the first confirmed case of the disease in Missouri this year, the state health department said Wednesday.
To date, there have been no confirmed cases of people contracting the mosquito-spread virus in Missouri, although people elsewhere have been infected.
"It just confirms what we have been expecting to see - continued expansion of the range of this disease,'' said Howard Pue, chief of communicable disease control and veterinary public health for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The virus was first discovered in the United States in 1999 in New York City. It spread west and south.
Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@timesdaily.com.
PRODUCTS WITH DEET - In commercial use since 1957, DEET is the most widely used insect repellent, estimated to have been applied to more than 5 billion people.
- It poses no significant health threat if used properly, but should not be used on children under 2, pregnant women or on children's bedding.
- Concentrations of less than 10 percent should be used on children under age 12; for adults, the maximum concentration should be no higher than 30 percent.
- Don't apply the repellent to the hands of small children, near wounds or scratches, or close to the eyes and mouth of anyone. n The chemical can be toxic if ingested, and in rare instances, people have had skin reactions ranging from blisters to nerve damage.
- Wash the repellent off with soap and water when returning indoors. If there is a suspected reaction to the chemical, wash the area quickly and seek medical attention.
Sources: Scripps Howard News Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, American Academy of Pediatrics, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
