Free Republic

(Here is the first part of the story ...) The East Texas city of Texarkana experienced a rare weather event to close out the year: It rained fish. The phenomenon, known as “animal rain,” occurred Wednesday in the city, where officials declared in a Facebook post that 2021 “is pulling out all of the tricks…including raining fish.” “And no, this isn’t a joke,” the post continued. The city asked residents who witnessed the strange event for their fish photos — some provided them in a lengthy comment thread, along with notes of disbelief — and offered a quick primer on...

Video at link. Now that a crucial section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has been replaced by a new $6.4 billion span, nobody needs it anymore -- nobody except about 800 birds who call the decrepit, 78-year-old segment home. The double-breasted cormorants - protected, though not endangered - have nested along the bridge for decades, and have so far shown no interest in relocating to the shiny new section that replaced the eastern section of the famed bridge. Officials have tried pricey decoys, bird recordings and even specially-made nests installed underneath the new span to lure them roughly 100...

Now, the population of the cormorants on East Sand Island has burgeoned from about 100 breeding pairs to 14,900, and a federal agency wants to have thousands of the seabirds shot to protect the fish, including some that are protected or endangered. The birds eat lots of endangered wild fish, as well as hatchery stocks — an estimated 11 million a year — mainly in May as the young fish head for their years in the ocean. In June, the corps released its plan to kill 16,000 of the birds. A public comment period has been extended to Aug. 19....

Chris Anderson is only half-joking when he offers a solution for the hungry cormorants that are eating the fish in Leech Lake — and taking money out of his pocket. "Kill them all," he says of the voracious, predatory birds. At Anderson's Cove, Anderson's resort on the western edge of the lake, just three of 11 cabins were rented for this month's walleye opener, after six years of strong opening weekends. Over the next month alone, Anderson figures he'll lose $40,000 or more through mid-June because of cabins standing empty. Word has spread that walleye fishing on Leech Lake, one...