TV Tower Wires Kill 400 Birds in One Night

Wisconsin State Journal ^ | October 5, 2005 | Ron Seely

[rattrap]

LMAO good one.

[Atlas Sneezed]

LOL!

[BenLurkin]

Those aren't guy wires.

[ngc6656]

I thought songbirds roosted at night. Owel and geese fly at night but songbirds, I don't think so.

Migratory songbirds roost at night during the spring and summer months while nesting. During migration they do indeed fly at night. Over the last 40 years I've seen many pass through the field of a telescope, silhouetted against the Moon, as I observed the Moon. You can also sometimes hear the birds issuing plaintive calls at night as they fly over, if you live in a quiet location -- in fact I heard some this morning around 6 a.m. as I made a casual survey of the sky.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"Over the last 40 years I've seen many pass through the field of a telescope, silhouetted against the Moon, as I observed the Moon."

One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen were a flock of snow geese flying over my house at night. Absolutely silent, in a perfect "V" and I would've missed them had I not been out Moon gazing myself. :)

[dighton]

“The study group admitted puzzlement over hundreds of dead clams.”

[ngc6656]

One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen were a flock of snow geese flying over my house at night. Absolutely silent, in a perfect "V" and I would've missed them had I not been out Moon gazing myself. :)

Bless you, you have a good head on your shoulders, knew what you saw and didn't run off screaming "UFO, UFO..."

[UB355]

THis one in Milwaukee WI is one of the tallest self supporting in the US

http://www.towerpainter.com/WITI1.htm

[pillbox_girl]

"Guy Wires?"

Guys are the cables connecting a pole or tower to either the ground or some other firm attachment point. They keep the tower upright in extreme weather. I don't know if this picture will display or not, but here's a image of a tower with down guys to the ground.

The red balls on the power lines in the picture you have are called "marker balls". They aren't so much for birds as they are there to show low flying private airplanes where the wires are.

Birds just fly around the balls, and often still hit the wires. In fact, the number of bird killed by flying into power lines in North America each year is truly staggering. The few killed by towers or by windmills just doesn't even compare.

[Dick Vomer]

Oh.... the humanity....uh..er.. I guess birds aren't human..

Oh the birdanity..!!!!!

[Keith in Iowa]

The Enviros should be thankful they get to witness natural selection...the survival of the fittest...after all, it's the dumb ones dying...

[Willie Green]

". . . my true love gave to me:
400 disoriented songbirds . . ."
--Guy Weyers

A-well-a everybody's heard about the bird
Bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a don't you know about the bird?
Well, everybody's talking about the bird!
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a bird...

Surfin' bird
Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb... [retching noises]... aaah!

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-
Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow

Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-oom-oom-oom
Oom-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-a-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow
Papa-oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow
Oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow
Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow
Well don't you know about the bird?
Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word

"Surfin' Bird" -- The Trashmen

[MediaMole]

If a scare crows work, why not scare Liberals?

Put a massive, lighted, George W. Bush on top of the tower.

[BraveMan]

[quantim]

...a casualty of bow hunting, not a car. Poor thing;

The only thing worse than a liberal is a bad shot.

They kill more than the intended target.

On hindsight, I guess it's the same

[TheForceOfOne]

"The little birdie is riding majestically toward us like some great feather, riding as though it was mighty good...mighty proud of the place it's playing in the world's aviation. The little birdie is no doubt bustling with activity fresh from the nest of its mother as we can see; little chirping he is shouting to the other little birdies, the people on the street lining the windows of their office buildings looking up at the little birdie passing by, there is a field ahead of him, everyone is getting their glimpse of the little birdie. He seems to be tiring a little bit on his brand new wings of freedom.

"There are scores of people in the street below stopping on their busy day to look up at the little birdie and no doubt they too are moved by the site of this wonderful bird It's practically standing still now as it hovers above looking for a place to land. It sees a ledge on the edge of a TV tower as it now desperately wants to land. It's starting to rain again; the rain had slacked up a little bit. The little bird seems to be able to withstand the rain, just holding it, just enough to keep it from falling--"

"It burst into flames! Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Get this, Charlie! Get this, Charlie! It's fire and it's crashing! It's crashing terrible! Oh, my! Get out of the way, please! It's burning, bursting into flames and is falling on the TV tower mast, and all the folks agree that this is terrible. This is the worst of the worst catastrophes in the world! Oh, it's crashing...oh, four or five hundred feet into the sky, and it's a terrific crash, ladies and gentlemen. There's smoke, and there's flames, now, and the frame is crashing to the ground, not quite to, the to the ground, its flaming body is hung up on a nail...Oh, the humanity, and all the people are screaming around here!"

"I told you...I can't even talk to people...around there. It's -- I can't talk, ladies and gentlemen. Honest, it's just laying there, a mass of smoking flesh and feathers, and everybody can hardly breathe and talk...I, I'm sorry. Honest, I can hardly breathe. I'm going to step inside where I cannot see it. Charlie, that's terrible. I -- Listen folks, I'm going to have to stop for a minute, because I've lost my voice...This is the worst thing I've ever witnessed....."

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

guy wires

I think I get it :-)

[GladesGuru]

If a scare crows work, why not scare Liberals?

Put a massive, lighted, George W. Bush on top of the tower.


Won't work - birds have no property to condemn via eminent domain.

[pillbox_girl]

That looks like it might be some sort of adjustable attachment for the end of a guy cable. A simple turnbuckles would be better, though.

Is it something to scare birds away from thin wires? I'm assuming the balls light up or flash.

[P-Marlowe]

Yep. Time to tear down the TV tower to save the little birdies. (Sarcasm)

Is there a KFC at the bottom of that Tower?