Officials Say Raining Arkansas Blackbirds Were Targets of a Crime

FoxNews.com ^ | 1/2/12 | NewCore

[ColdOne]

BEEBE, Ark – Blackbirds raining from the sky for the second New Year running over the town of Beebe, Ark. was more likely a criminal rather than a supernatural phenomenon.

The authorities in the small US town said Sunday the 200 or so dead birds littering the streets -- exactly a year after 4,000 plummeted to the ground sparking a media frenzy and apocalyptic prophesies -- were targeted.

In a statement, Genny Porter from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said, "We know that there was evidence of fireworks set off in the middle of the roost, and it wasn't a coincidence."

Most scientists eventually agreed the thousands of deaths last New Year were caused when the birds were spooked by fireworks and flew into buildings, trees and each other.

Police in Beebe rushed through an emergency ban on fireworks

[Repeal The 17th]

My depression era father-in-law (God rest his soul)
could wax eloquently on the cooking methods and taste difference
for several species of small birds including crows and robins.

[Graybeard58]

Killing blackbirds is a crime?

My dad used to sprinkle corn out by the barn, when the black birds flock to get it, one shot gun blast would kill a half dozen of them, then the cats came a runnin' when they heard the shot gun they knew it was supper time.

[Graybeard58]

I refuse to say whether or not I have tried any of them.

I tried it but the danged feathers kept getting stuck in my teeth.

[matthew fuller]

How many cats could your dad get with one shot?

[EternalVigilance]

They may only be killed when they are found “committing or about to commit depredations upon ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife, or when concentrated in such numbers and manner as to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance,”

Ain't seen a blackbird yet that didn't fill that bill.

[Slings and Arrows]

"Heads up!"

---

[dixiechick2000]

Heh...love the graphic!

So...blackbirds are endangered now?

GOOD!

[Slings and Arrows]

Been in your garden, have they?

[dixiechick2000]

Nah...just don’t like ‘em.

I guess I’m a racist.

[Slings and Arrows]

[Daffynition]

[Daffynition]

[D-fendr]

Wow, cool picture, thanks.

That’s an incredible sight. I live in the woods and don’t get that view. I see them overhead in the trees. A tremendous cacophony and then.. silence, then a roar of wings as they move in waves.

[Daffynition]

Hope your car isn't under the trees! :)

[null and void]

My only regret is that I can't figure out how to get hundreds of them at once without attracting attention and having to explain that I hate the things.

Go to your local machine shop. Get iron filings. Mix with starling/grackle bait. Place near the infestation.

Don't expect instant results. The local population will drop, they dead birds won't all be in one place, nor will they drop at onetime. Toxicology tests, should anyone be so motivated, will be negative...

[ColdOne]

Luv that photo. Sr71 of of my fav’s!

[Slings and Arrows]

Magnificent machines, they were.

[Slings and Arrows]

Keep ‘em away from my car.

[Daffynition]

Send in the *Batcopter*! ;)

[AppyPappy]

“I’ve seen a horse fly and I’ve seen a house fly but I’ve never seen an elephant fly”