Posted on 01/08/2007 7:51:22 AM PST by call meVeronica
AUSTIN, Texas - Police shut down 10 blocks of businesses in the heart of downtown Austin early Monday after dozens of birds were found dead. Experts were testing for any sort of environmental contaminant or gas or chlorine leaks that might have killed off the animals, police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said. There were no reports of any humans harmed, but a 10-block stretch of the main north-south route through downtown, several side streets and all buildings in the area were blocked off and expected to remain off-limits until about noon, Chovanetz said. The bird carcasses were found overnight along Congress Avenue between Sixth and Eighth streets. The street closure Monday morning stretched from the front of the state Capitol to a section of the Colorado River known as Town Lake. There was no immediate word on whether the Capitol would be affected Monday, the day before the legislative session was to begin.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
The 60 birds were both grackles and pigeons - no great loss since there are gazillions of them.
I suspect they were poisoned. On the other hand, maybe some kingpin grackle convinced the others to drink kool-aid ala Jim Jones.
Did you see Guiliani in his urban cowboy attire on PBR Sunday? Pathetic.
There are more humane methods to deter birds from roosting on rooftops and public buildings, other than poisening them. Once can set up a network of spikes on the landing sites, also an electrified network to deter them.
I'm guessing they were poisoned. This happend in Springfield, Missouri several years ago. They were all pigeons and the carcasses were everywhere. They are a major source of disease and won't be missed.
Thanks for the ping. Please let me know if you have an update as to the cause.
since you are there, can you keep us updated? That would be great...thx
"You're right. It's not unusual for building maintenance folks to put poison on a roof to reduce the pigeon population. It may not be legal, but I think that it is fairly common."
I don't know if I'm right, but it is common. Its often done over the weekend when few would notice and they would show up dead a day or so later.
where was Leslie?
No I missed that, I'm glad to say, but I salute him for trying. LOL!
Didn't Leslie go to the great nudist hippie place in the sky awhile back?
Global Warming. They died from heat stroke.
Probably bury him right between Ann Richards and Bob Bullock.
That's what it made me think of. I remember they did this in Midland years ago when we lived there. It dropped those birds dead as doornails (this was pigeons).
I hope that's what it is. My son who works in downtown Austin called me this evening, saying it was pretty spooky.
susie
Grackles really are a menace. Icky birds.
susie
Thanks, bump.
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