Thousands of ducks mysteriously dying in Idaho

[KNOWTHIS]

link

Officials scrambled on Wednesday to determine what has caused the deaths of thousands of mallard ducks in south-central Idaho near the Utah border.Although wildlife experts are downplaying any links to bird flu, they have sent samples to government labs to test for the deadly H5N1 flu strain, among other pathogens.

Officials with the federal Bureau of Homeland Security have been also called in to help with the probe.

"We think the possibility of avian flu is very remote but we're not ruling anything out at this point in time," said Dave Parish, regional supervisor for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. "We want to make sure all the bases are covered."

Wildlife officials are calling the massive die-off alarming, with the number of dead mallards rising from 1,000 on Tuesday to more than 2,000 by Wednesday afternoon. "We've never seen anything like this -- ever," Parrish said.

A hunter alerted state conservation officials after finding a handful of dead ducks along a creek near Burley, about 150 miles southeast of Boise, on Friday.

By Wednesday, dead and dying birds clogged sections of the stream and littered its banks. Officials have posted signs warning hunters and others not to touch or eat the birds until a cause of death has been identified.

Preliminary findings by state veterinarians suggest the mallards succumbed to a bacterial infection, officials said. They said it was unclear why a similar outbreak had never before occurred in Idaho.

SIMILAR EVENT IN IOWA LAST YEAR

On Wednesday, officials outfitted with protective gear were gathering hundreds of mallard carcasses. Wildlife managers said the birds will be incinerated.

The only mallard die-off roughly equivalent in recent years happened in Waterloo, Iowa in 2005, when 500 ducks died from a fungus they contracted by eating moldy grain, according to a report by the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center.

The center's Kathryn Converse, a wildlife disease specialist, said early clues suggest the outbreak in Idaho is not linked to insecticides applied to surrounding croplands because it is not affecting other bird species or predators feeding on the dead ducks.

Mallards are the most common duck species in the United States, with populations nationwide. Most mallards that winter in Idaho originate from Alberta, Canada, with a smaller percentage from the Northwest Territories, said Tom Keegan, regional wildlife manager with Idaho Fish and Game.

Although the magnitude and the pace of the die-off is unusual, officials said, migratory birds and other wild animals are more likely to get sick when large numbers congregate in small areas.

That can happen to mallards in the winter, when many of the waterways they depend upon are frozen.

Compounding the seasonal phenomenon is the ever-shrinking habitat available to wildlife because of sprawling development and expanding farm operations.

[KNOWTHIS]

www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=28648

A report released Monday by Consumer Reports found that 83 percent of the 525 chickens it tested were infected with campylobacter, salmonella bacteria, or both, and recommended that consumers cook all chicken to 165 degrees and wash their hands with soap and water after handling it.
The chickens tested by Consumer Reports were purchased from grocery stores, bulk retailers, gourmet shops and natural food stores in 23 U.S. states. -NewsTarget

[socrates]

I wanted to go to that duck story, but it says unavailable when I click on your link. Someone at Megasprayer posted about the ducks but gave no link.

DEAD DUCKS
(me:Sorry for the loudness. I think she had the caps locked by accident.)


posted by aim4justice:

THOUSANDS OF MALLARD DUCKS HAVE DIED IN IDAHO~
JUST OVER THE BORDER CERTAIN DOMES ARE RISING AT AN ALARMING RATE~ONE OF THE DOMES IS AT MALLARD LAKE~

THE PRESS RELEASE BLAMES A FUNGUS~I HAVE RELATIVES WHO LIVE NEAR BOTH PLACES~ THEY SAY THAT THE SULFURIC ACID TEST IS TO BLAME AND THAT YELLOWSTONE IS THE SLEEPING GIANT THAT IS ABOUT TO WAKE UP~

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN BOTH EVENTS SIMULTANEOUSLY OCCURRING IS AT THE VERY LEAST DISTURBING~

[KNOWTHIS]

There has been a lot of strange bird deaths as of late. In other instances large flocks have dive bombed right in to the ground.

Here's another link.

news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061214/us_nm/ducks_dc

[KNOWTHIS]

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061214/ap_on_re_us/farm_scene_duck_die_off

Duck die-off in Idaho sparks fears

The number of mallard ducks that have died along a creek in southeastern Idaho has climbed to 2,500, as puzzled wildlife officials awaited test results they hoped would provide clues to what is killing them.
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Idaho Department of Fish and Game and U.S. Department of
Homeland Security officials expected to have results Thursday from the tests on tissue samples from the ducks' abdominal tract and on water samples from the creek.

The battery of tests at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's national laboratory in Wisconsin, the University of Idaho and Washington State University were expected to rule out an avian flu outbreak.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were testing tissue samples Wednesday, hoping to rule out an avian flu outbreak.

The ducks mysteriously began dying last week around Land Springs Creek, near the remote town of Oakley, about 180 miles southeast of Boise.

Some migratory mallards from Canada and their local cousins were still perishing at the creek Wednesday, staggering and struggling to breathe before collapsing, said Dave Parrish, regional supervisor for Fish and Game.

"I've never seen anything like this in 20 years here," he said. "There were dead mallards everywhere — in the water and on the banks. It was odd, they were in a very small area."

The massive outbreak is vexing scientists because only mallard ducks are dying. Golden eagles, geese, magpies, crows and other birds in the area all remain healthy.

Tissue from the ducks' intestinal tract and water samples from the creek were sent to the Fish and Wildlife Service national laboratory in Wisconsin, the University of Idaho and Washington State University. The agencies expect to review test results Thursday to determine the cause of death.

Mark Drew, a wildlife veterinarian with the state
Department of Agriculture, said the ducks likely were exposed to a single contamination source and gathered at the creek, their mutual roosting point, to die. He did not suspect the mallards were passing a contagious virus.

The ducks may have contracted a bacterial or fungal infection by eating grain treated with pesticides by local cattle farmers, Drew said. Farming chemicals may also have spilled into the small spring-fed creek, which measures just 3- to 6-inches deep.

In addition to Idaho Fish and Game and Homeland Security officers, representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and the local health district were investigating the deaths.

The agencies posted signs warning hunters not to eat any birds killed near the creek.

"I'd say there's no reason for alarm in the sense that literally the sky is falling and there's disease spreading," Drew said. "It's unusual in the number of birds and the sense that it's only mallards, but it's nothing that would cause anyone to panic."

___

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal lawmakers have approved a plan by southern Nevada water officials to build a reservoir to capture Colorado River water that otherwise flows into the Gulf of California.

Language authorizing the reservoir was contained in a tax bill passed in the waning hours of the 109th Congress.

It calls for the Las Vegas-based Southern Nevada Water Authority to pay to build the reservoir just north of the Mexico border to capture irrigation water sent from Lake Mead to Southern California farmers. Officials say that during rainy weather, water that would go to farms currently flows to Mexico.

For the $84 million reservoir, southern Nevada will gain rights to up to 40,000 acre-feet of water a year for seven years. An acre-foot is about enough water for two families per year.

The authority sought the legislation with hopes of avoiding an environmental fight over the reservoir. Environmentalists have delayed a similar project in San Diego.

[KNOWTHIS]

Flashback: Hundreds of seagulls killed mysteriously
www.chinanews.cn

2006-12-19

Chinanews, Jinan, Dec. 19 - Hundreds of seagulls were found dead on the beach of Zhouge Village, eastern China's Shandong Province.

The remains of these seagulls were found on December 16, which still kept white feathers and red claws without any wounds.

Relevant authorities reveal that all the seagull remains have been cleared away and samples have been made. A careful investigation shows that their death was not related to bird flu. Experts suspected that they were infected by a kind of mysterious disease. Further results have to be revealed in a few more days.

Flashback: Lewiston residents unnerved by dead crows[/u]

19/12/2006

Maine News
LEWISTON - Residents unnerved by the unexplained deaths of dozens of crows in a neighborhood next to the Promenade Mall hope tests by the U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide some answers.

To residents, it seems almost as though dead crows were falling from the sky. Damien Perreault, 71, said he disposed of 10 dead crows he found on a walk Monday. That didn't count crows dead in the trees.

[chickenlittle]

You know they had this on the Northwest news as a story and then nothing about it again.
I wonder why that is???Maybe the army/government is doing some microwave weapons testing on them?
chicky

[marklookingup]

Unfortunately, we will never know the answer to your question. With no oversight, and these days of "national security", it wouldn't surprise me one bit that the gov. is responsible.

Mallards have a special place in my heart. We have a pair that come every spring and occupy a pond I built for them. I know it's the same pair because they come running to me when I go out to feed our other animals. They lounge around for 3 weeks, I guess while preparing to start a new family, and then disappear until the following spring.

One year they came back to show off their 9 ducklings, and then vanished for the year.

[KNOWTHIS]

More dying birds.......

www.washtimes.com/national/20070108-123823-5796r.htm

Dead birds shut down Austin

Police shut down 10 blocks of businesses in the heart of downtown early Monday after dozens of birds were found dead in the streets, but officials said preliminary tests showed no dangerous chemicals in the air.
As many as 60 dead pigeons, sparrows and grackles were found overnight along Congress Avenue, a main route through downtown. No human injuries or illnesses were reported.
"We do not feel there is a threat to the public health," said Adolfo Valadez, the medical director for Austin and Travis County Health and Human Services. He said preliminary air-quality tests showed no dangerous chemicals and the area should reopen around noon.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said officials had no credible information to suggest any imminent threat to the city.
On Congress Avenue, just outside the state Capitol, emergency workers donned yellow hazardous-material suits Monday morning, and dozens of fire trucks and ambulances were parked nearby.
Workers were testing for any sort of environmental contaminant or gas or chlorine leaks that might have cause the bird deaths, said police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz. At least one bird carcass was being tested locally for other possible causes, and other carcasses were shipped to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Texas A&M University.
Valadez said the tests on the dead birds would likely take several days and look for signs of poisoning or viral infections, though he said officials do not think bird flu is involved.
A 10-block stretch of Congress Avenue, several side streets and all buildings in the area were shut down and declared off-limits as a precaution, Chovanetz said.
The street closure stretched from just outside the Capitol to a section of the Colorado River known as Town Lake. The Capitol opened on schedule Monday, the day before the legislative session was to begin.
On the East Coast, New York City also had a scare Monday morning when a mysterious gas odor moved across Manhattan. It wasn't immediately clear what had caused the odor, and it dissipated fairly quickly. No injuries or damage to wildlife was immediately reported.

[chickenlittle]

What the hell is going on??I love where the official says it was probably done deliberately and just how could a small group or one person manage this without being seen and how????How can they possibly poison that many birds in one area.I think it is happening because the birds are more sensitive and smaller than us humans.
We should be paying attention to this.
Whats next dogs,cats??
I remember last year around our city crows were attacking humans,I think they definately should get our attention.
chicky

[socrates]

This appears to be happening a lot lately.



The Australian
Mystery as thousands of birds fall from sky
Amanda O'Brien
January 10, 2007

excerpt: THOUSANDS of birds have fallen from the skies over Esperance and no one knows why.

Is it an illness, toxins or a natural phenomenon? A string of autopsies in Perth have shed no light on the mystery.

All the residents of flood-devastated Esperance know is that their "dawn chorus" of singing birds is missing.
The main casualties are wattle birds, yellow-throated miners, new holland honeyeaters and singing honeyeaters, although some dead crows, hawks and pigeons have also been found.

Wildlife officers are baffled by the "catastrophic" event, which the Department of Environment and Conservation said began well before last week's freak storm.

On Monday, Esperance, 725km southeast of Perth, was declared a natural disaster zone.
District nature conservation co-ordinator Mike Fitzgerald said the first reports of birds dropping dead in people's yards came in three weeks ago. More than 500 deaths had since been notified. But the calls stopped suddenly last week, reportedly because no birds were left.

"It's very substantial. We estimate several thousand birds are dead, although we don't have a clear number because of the large areas of bushland," Mr Fitzgerald said.

[altitudelou]

To complement Socrates post, there is this,....

You know, I'm wondering if these recent "Bird Die Offs" are connected to High Energy Scalar technology being used in conjunction with the Chemtrail Spraying?

There are just to many of these "Die Offs" happening lately around the planet to all be coincidental and in reading this article that comes from Australia,

www.news.com.au/story/0%2C10117%2C21035741-2%2C00.html?from=public_rss

This quote got my attention,....snip...

"Wildlife officers are baffled by the "catastrophic" event, which the Department of Environment and Conservation said began well before last week's freak storm."

How many times have we observed spraying in front of and before a low pressure system moves into an area?

Freak storm, normal contrails, bird "Die Off" just a coincidence as we here in the U.S. of A. just had a couple bird "Die Offs" within the past few days no doubt ??

January 08, 2007
Were dead birds in Austin, Texas, poisoned?
blogs.contracostatimes.com/gary_bogue/2007/01/dead_birds_clos.html
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Unprecedented Die-Off of 2,500 Mallard Ducks in Idaho

earthfiles.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1177&category=Environment