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.
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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.
conscience
..thats because those ducks spent time in Times Square during the 60's
Doogle
Nah they're not dead, they are just sleeping. Yeah thats the ticket.
Did I just say that?
The farms around us moved to no till farming after the original families sold out. Since that time we have watched
wildlife decrease and vanish. The birds that used to be here are gone. Pheasant, grouse etc have gone. I attribute it to the weed killer spread and the hedge row nesting areas being contaminated. We leave a large portion of our land in natural state. There are still none. Kind of sad in a way.
I tried that, but the neighbors kept complaining...;-)
Duck Season!
Rabbit Season!
Rabbit Season!
Duck Season!
BLAM!!!!
Seems ole Dave Parrish contradicts himself. First he notes that other birds are fine, that it's only the ducks dying then he says the ducks may have ate pesticide contaminated grain or chemicals may have polluted the stream.
If the grain was contaminated or the stream polluted, would it not be logical that other birds be sick and dying as well? As far as I know, geese, magpies, and other similar birds eat grain and drink/swim in streams.
One thousand mallards dead in Idaho ping.
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