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Poisoned Pigeons Create Hazmat Incident
WTOP Radio ^ | 7/28/06

Posted on 07/29/2006 8:32:03 PM PDT by defenderSD

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) - An attempt to control pigeons at a hospital escalated into a hazardous material incident as sick and dying birds falling from the sky forced a temporary shutdown of the emergency room.

"Birds were coming down like dive bombers," said Schenectady Fire Chief Robert Farstad.

(Excerpt) Read more at wtop.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: hazmat; odd; pigeons; ratswithwings; weird
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File this report under: "Operation Did Not Proceed According to Plan".
1 posted on 07/29/2006 8:32:03 PM PDT by defenderSD
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To: defenderSD

At least they weren't "hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement"


2 posted on 07/29/2006 8:34:03 PM PDT by chaosagent (Remember, no matter how you slice it, forbidden fruit still tastes the sweetest!)
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To: defenderSD
OMG LOL!!

Do they think something went wrong? : D

3 posted on 07/29/2006 8:34:20 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (If you think you know what's coming next....You don't know Jack.)
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To: chaosagent

We're doomed!!!!!!!!!!!!!


4 posted on 07/29/2006 8:34:42 PM PDT by Quark606
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To: chaosagent

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."


5 posted on 07/29/2006 8:34:49 PM PDT by NonValueAdded (Occupation does not cause terrorism; terrorism causes occupation. (A. Dershowitz))
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To: DJ MacWoW

I dunno; you think maybe fowl play was involved?


6 posted on 07/29/2006 8:35:12 PM PDT by defenderSD ("Rise early, work hard, strike oil." - J. Paul Getty)
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To: defenderSD

Tom Lehrer did it.


7 posted on 07/29/2006 8:36:50 PM PDT by Brian Mosely (A government is a body of people -- usually notably ungoverned)
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To: defenderSD
I'm not picturing how 2 dozen dead pigeons outside the hospital could shut down the emergency room inside hospital, unless this was a case of hysterical overreaction on the part of staff members.
8 posted on 07/29/2006 8:37:27 PM PDT by GATOR NAVY
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To: NonValueAdded
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

LOL! That's the first thing I thought of, too.

:-)

9 posted on 07/29/2006 8:37:35 PM PDT by tgslTakoma
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To: NonValueAdded

It's been almost 30 years since "WKRP" hit the airwaves and thinking about that episode still makes me laugh.


10 posted on 07/29/2006 8:40:03 PM PDT by Skip Ripley
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To: GATOR NAVY

I think they were responding to the threat of pigeons possibly falling on somebody walking into the emergency room. A big, heavy, well-fed pigeon could hit you with some impact falling from the top of the hospital.


11 posted on 07/29/2006 8:40:51 PM PDT by defenderSD ("Rise early, work hard, strike oil." - J. Paul Getty)
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To: defenderSD

Tom Lerher Wrote a song about this years ago.

I'd like to take you now on wings of song, as it were, and try and help you forget perhaps for a while your drab, wretched lives. here's a song all about spring-time in general, and in particula
Out one of the many delightful pastimes the coming of spring affords us all.

Spring is here, a-suh-puh-ring is here.
Life is skittles and life is beer.
I think the loveliest time of the year is the spring.
I do, don't you? 'course you do.
But there's one thing that makes spring complete for me,
And makes ev'ry sunday a treat for me.

All the world seems in tune
On a spring afternoon,
When we're poisoning pigeons in the park.
Ev'ry sunday you'll see
My sweetheart and me,
As we poison the pigeons in the park.

When they see us coming, the birdies all try an' hide,
But they still go for peanuts when coated with cyanide.
The sun's shining bright,
Ev'rything seems all right,
When we're poisoning pigeons in the park.

Lalaalaalalaladoodiedieedoodoodoo

We've gained notoriety,
And caused much anxiety
In the audubon society
With our games.
They call it impiety,
And lack of propriety,
And quite a variety
Of unpleasant names.
But it's not against any religion
To want to dispose of a pigeon.

So if sunday you're free,
Why don't you come with me,
And we'll poison the pigeons in the park.
And maybe we'll do
In a squirrel or two,
While we're poisoning pigeons in the park.

We'll murder them all amid laughter and merriment.
Except for the few we take home to experiment.
My pulse will be quickenin'
With each drop of strychnine
We feed to a pigeon.
It just takes a smidgin!
To poison a pigeon in the park.


12 posted on 07/29/2006 8:43:54 PM PDT by Boiler Plate (Mom always said why be difficult, when with just a little more effort you can be impossible.)
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To: GATOR NAVY

No, all the hysteria can be blamed on the Federal and NY State EPA agencies. Evidently, the birds' carcasses contained enough poison to make them "hazardous", especially to possums, skunks, vultures and other liberal Yankee politicians.

Of course, it's much more environmentally friendly to apply poison to pigeons at about 1.5 ounces a time out of a 12 gauge. That way we don't have to worry so much about what worms and possums eat....but this is New York.


13 posted on 07/29/2006 8:44:08 PM PDT by 308MBR ( "She pulled up her petticoat, and I pulled out for Tulsa!" Abstinence training from Bob Wills.)
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To: defenderSD
I dunno; you think maybe fowl play was involved?

Maybe. Sounds like some birdbrain fowled up the plan.

14 posted on 07/29/2006 8:44:18 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (If you think you know what's coming next....You don't know Jack.)
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To: chaosagent
At least they weren't "hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement"

Was there a news reporter on the scene?


15 posted on 07/29/2006 8:48:08 PM PDT by operation clinton cleanup
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To: GATOR NAVY
I'm not picturing how 2 dozen dead pigeons outside the hospital could shut down the emergency room inside hospital, unless this was a case of hysterical overreaction on the part of staff members.

Seems like a reasonable reaction to me, at least until there's definite proof of what's killing the pigeons. Think of the canary in the coal mine -- when the canary dies, you evacuate, but not because there's a dead canary in the way.

I'm guessing the people who made the call to close the ER weren't involved in the pigeon-poisoning plan. I can't picture the ER docs being that involved in physical plant maintenance plans.

16 posted on 07/29/2006 8:49:07 PM PDT by ReignOfError
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To: Boiler Plate

That's a funny song. The last time I heard that song was around 1976 when I was in college. A friend of mine had a couple of Tom Lerher albums that he liked to play for people at parties. I remember that song title..."Poisoning pigeons in the park"...lol.


17 posted on 07/29/2006 8:50:20 PM PDT by defenderSD ("Rise early, work hard, strike oil." - J. Paul Getty)
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To: defenderSD

ROTFLMAO!

We had the same thing happen here in Massachusetts down on Cape Cod. Apparently, the seagulls had got competely out of hand, so a plan was approved to poison some portion of their population.

Unfortunately, the poison was not fast acting enough, and we had em falling out of the sky like a feathered hailstorm!!! Hitting cars driving down the roads, falling into people's yards and so on...


18 posted on 07/29/2006 8:50:52 PM PDT by rlmorel (Islamofacism: It is all fun and games until someone puts an eye out. Or chops off a head.)
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To: Brian Mosely

Seeing that title, I clicked on this thread just to see how long it would take for Tom Lehrer to be mentioned. Good job!


19 posted on 07/29/2006 8:52:32 PM PDT by Moonmad27
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To: defenderSD

I liked the elements song too. Funny man, that Tom Lerher.


20 posted on 07/29/2006 8:53:57 PM PDT by Boiler Plate (Mom always said why be difficult, when with just a little more effort you can be impossible.)
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