red winged blackbird, Mystery of dozens of dead birds falling from the sky in New Jersey is solved as officials say farmer killed them on purposeIt's a sight that would send a shiver down most people's spines - dead birds plummeting from the sky for no apparent reason.And when it's happened in the past, Americans have blamed secret government experiments, collisions with UFOs and even the start of the apocalypse.
But this time there is no conspiracy theory - officials in a small New Jersey community are pointing the finger at someone much closer to home.When they first realised what had happened, the people living in the Cumberland County town of Millville were, understandably, left baffled. They said it was like something out of a film.
In one street alone residents found at least 80 birds - mostly red-winged blackbirds - on the ground dead having fallen from trees and the sky.
One neighbour even said she saw the birds falling out of the air.nimal control, public health officials and other emergency crews arrived the scene yesterday morning to try and find out exactly what happened.
The Cumberland County Public Information Officer Troy Ferus then revealed there wasn't an environmental cause for the birds' death.
Instead, he suggested it was something they ate - a double-strength granular pesticide put down legally by nearby Ingraldi Farms to stop birds eating its corn.In a statement issued by Mr Ferus, he said: 'The Department of Health reports that on Monday evening Ingraldi Farms applied a granular pesticide intended and approved to cull birds, causing an unusually high volume of dead birds in the area of Ingraldi Farms and Whitemarsh Estates in Millville.
'The material used; Avitrol Double Strength Corn Chops (EPA reg. # 11649-5) is approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and intended to be used for bird control for blackbirds, brewer's blackbirds, cowbirds, grackles, red-winged blackbirds, rusty blackbird, starlings, and yellow-headed blackbirds.'
Officials have said Ingraldi Farms have previously used a ready to use liquid repellent intended to be used for bird control.
Ingraldi Farms is licensed through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to apply pesticides on their farms.
The company has been working with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife to alleviate the crop damage done by large flocks of birds.
It has estimated a crop loss of $15,000 so far, due to the birds eating their crops, NBC reported.
Bird specimens have been collected and are being sent to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Laboratory for testing.
'Preliminary investigation gives us the impression that... he had problems with birds,' said county spokesman Troy Ferus.
'He applied for and got a permit for a product that kills birds and that’s what it seems to have been effective at doing.'
Ingraldi Farms declined to comment to NBC.
Officials say the dead birds are not toxic but that any member of the public that encounters a dead bird should use gloves when picking it up and wash their hands thoroughly after handling and disposing of it.
0 comments:
Post a Comment