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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Dead birds close center of Austin, Tx |
| 2007-01-08 |
| I am unsure where to post this, as where it belongs will end up being dependant on the reason. But this is pretty weird. Apparently there are dozens of dead birds this morning in Austin and it is closed at the moment. Not that I will miss these grackles & pidgeons, but definately weird. Disease? Gas Leak? Mahmoods Gassing Truck Company? (CBS 42) AUSTIN Austin police have shut down Congress Ave. from Cesar Chavez St. to 11th St. after finding dozens of dead birds along the avenue downtown. Congress Avenue from Cesar Chavez to 11th Street, as well as one block on either side of Congress Avenue are currently closed down and will remain closed until approximately noon. People that work in that area have been advised not to come in until further notice. The Austin Fire Department is doing precautionary testing of the area. |
| Posted by:Laurence of the Rats |
| #14 UPI says A 10-block section of downtown Austin, Texas, was closed to traffic Monday after about 60 dead birds were found in the area along Congress Avenue. The bird carcasses -- mostly pigeons, sparrows and great-tailed grackles -- were discovered from Cesar Chavez Street to 11th Street well before dawn. Samples [collected] from the birds and the environment were sent to a lab at Texas A&M University. Officials said they did not believe the bird deaths were caused by avian flu or the West Nile virus. Bird ebola, perhaps? (A family joke. Not likely, I think.) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-01-08 23:07 |
| #13 DemoLefties win 2006 ergo is now a race to see whom introduces the most PDeniable, "justified" Commie-Governmentist legislations. Once the Earth is controlled, the Lefties only have 999,999 +/- more Earth-style planets to go before can demand the Sun to surrender, or else. OTOH, SCI-FI CHANNEL > CHILDREN OF MEN Series > in year 2027, Human civilization has collapsed due to human females suddenly being unable to have children - unless children are born, in 50+ yarns the human race will be in massive die-off mode due to "normal" aging + other dynamics. Race is on to save = control = extort = study the last female human pregnant teenager on earth. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-01-08 20:14 |
| #12 thezen mexican grakls. gonna miss they sweeet singin. :( wernt lesly. hes been buzy |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2007-01-08 16:11 |
| #11 More starlings/grackles or whatever, Rob. They just keep on making baby birdies, y'know. The four most successful bird species in North America are the non-native European Starling, Rock Dove/Pigeon, European Sparrow and the native Common Grackle. What we need are more Peregrine Falcons to eat the problem for us. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-01-08 13:38 |
| #10 Just wait until you see what replaces them. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-01-08 13:23 |
| #9 Common Grackle Starling Either poisoned bird food or rotted/fungus tainted grain, would be my guess. Or a disease spread by crowded conditions amongst the flocking birds -- finches have been dying in large numbers in the US in recent years due to some disease spread by contact at crowded bird feeders. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-01-08 13:21 |
| #8 Enormous flocks of grackles gather just before dawn and around sunset, making an almighty racket and Jackson Pollocking any surface below their chosen perches... frankly anything that has killed them has my qualified approval. Nasty things...think sewer rats with wings. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2007-01-08 11:23 |
| #7 Maybe they have been eating D-Con or something. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-01-08 10:59 |
| #6 Heard this second hand.... Press conference . . . 3 different species, 60 birds total. Calls coming in from other parts of the city. Gas leaks ruled out at this time. A&M medical checking out the animals. Current theory is poison from some source... My speculation: If poison it must be local... grackles fly off out of town during the day to eat and return at night. But with other species getting it too then its prolly here. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2007-01-08 10:50 |
| #5 Meanwhile, this morning in Tucson White rats pop up in toilets. If the stars go out, I'm leaving. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-01-08 10:35 |
| #4 I live in Austin and have only heard the same thing. It doesn't appeart to be a terroristic act, but nobody knows what caused it. I was kidding my co-workers that it was probably Leslie, our cross dressing bum that caused the air sickness due to not showering in 3 weeks. |
| Posted by: texhooey 2007-01-08 10:27 |
| #3 Mucky alert! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-01-08 10:23 |
| #2 I lived in Austin 40 years ago. Nothing I like better than the sound of grackles in the morning. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-01-08 10:13 |
| #1 Interesting. In looking around for more info on this I found a story about a gas leak in NYC this morning. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16524813/ |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2007-01-08 09:56 |