Posted on 05/28/2004 2:43:20 AM PDT by Fast5
10,000 birds fall from sky From correspondents in China
MORE than 10,000 birds died mysteriously in eastern China's Jiangsu province, dropping like rain from the sky, state media reported yesterday.
Farmers and other witnesses in Sangongdian village in Taizhou city saw flocks of bramble finch suddenly fall from the sky on Tuesday, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
Most of the birds were dead when they hit the ground and some were injured, it said. The birds look like sparrows and are small in size.
Officials from the local centre for disease prevention and control rushed to the scene. Samples from the birds were taken to a lab in nearby Nanjing city for testing to determine the cause of death.
Experts from the Jiangsu province agriculture department said that because the birds died while in flight, the cause of death may have been contamination in their food, water or environment.
They did not immediately say whether there was any connection with the spreading bird flu outbreak in Asia.
At least 12 of China's 31 provinces have confirmed or suspected outbreaks of the avian influenza, which has devastated flocks across Asia and killed 11 people in Vietnam and five in Thailand.
China, the world's second-largest producer and fifth-largest exporter of chicken meat, has culled millions of birds in an attempt to halt the march of the disease.
I suspect you are right....test run?
Damn! I knew I shouldn't have installed that cloaking device on the Goodyear blimp.
I'm guessing Sender is right: just another day at the Happy Meal toy factory.
Or perhaps a little "oops" at the People's Liberation Army Subatomic Baby Milk Research Concern.
This sounds like a typical day of whitewing dove hunting in Mexico.
GPS will be fine. That car compass on your dashboard won't be much good, though.
Wouldn't it be a cool "X-Files" episode if they determined that all the birds died from blunt force trauma?
Well, not all in one spot, but if you've ever seen a small bird take ill and die...it can look fine and then a couple minutes later be dead.
..and God noted!
They were already roasted before they hit the ground?
Yummmm.
Who left the lab door open?!
Birds have a high metabolism and things can happen fast...but what are the odds of an entire flock of thousands of birds all succumbing to the flu at the same instant...while they are all feeling chipper enough to fly?
Maybe China helped hide WMD's for Iraq....little accident happened....?
You guys are all wrong... It's a cleverly devised promotional gimmick for the movie "The Day After Tomorrow"
Now, now.......
Let's not forget Reagan.
And two thousand portions of Kung Pao Chicken were ready about 10-15 minutes later.
If it rained birds over an acre in a minute, that would be one thing, but if it rained birds over 100 square miles in a day, it might be hard to know anything had happened.
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