- MER ROUGE (AP) -- Thousands of blackbirds are dying in north Louisiana
and nobody seems to know why.
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- For the past several weeks, Wanda and
Daniel Hudson of Morehouse Parish enjoyed watching tens of thousands of
blackbirds flying over their house toward Mer Rouge each morning.
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- Each afternoon, they watched the huge
flock fly back toward Log Cabin.
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- Then Monday, the blackbirds started dropping
from the sky into yards and ditches where they staggered and faltered,
many making their way out to Louisiana 425.
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- The dead and dying birds have been littering
their yard and a five-mile stretch of nearby homes and highways ever since.
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- About 50 birds lay dead in a stretch
of a couple hundred feet from the Hudson's home. Others teetered on the
highway's edge, dying.
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- "It's really pitiful," Mrs.
Hudson said. "They are coming into our yard and dying.
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- "It takes them awhile to die. It's
a slow, painful death."
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- Hudson called the state Department of
Wildlife and Fisheries in Monroe on Monday.
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- "I've never seen it hit like this,"
said wildlife biologist Jimmy Anthony. "There are quite a few birds
falling out of the air -- thousands."
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- Anthony said the five live birds he collected
Monday died that night.
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- An autopsy revealed nothing.
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- Tests are being made at Louisiana State
University Medical Center to determine the cause, which Anthony said could
be a virus or bacteria, pesticide or even a natural toxin on a food supply.
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- "I just don't know," he said.
"Sometimes these things stare right out at you, but this isn't one
of them."
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- Mrs. Hudson walked over to a blackbird
sitting in her backyard.
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- The bird didn't move with the approach
of people. Its head lolled dizzyingly from side to side as it shook before
attempting a few steps.
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- Finally, it stopped, settled, and turned
its beak straight up. He remained that way for another 10 minutes.
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- "He's trying to breathe. It's how
he gets air," Daniel Hudson said. "I've been in nature all of
my life and I've never been able to walk up on a blackbird."
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- He snapped his fingers in front of the
dying animal. No response.
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- The bird's rich teal and scarlet coat
took on a yellow tinge.
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- "He's been out here for hours like
this, and he's likely to be out here a while longer," Mrs. Hudson
said. "But then again, he may be near."
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- The Hudson's say they are anxious to
find the cause and whether it could be a health threat to other animals
or humans.
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- Already, Wanda Hudson has had to pull
a dead bird out of her dog's mouth.
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- "We have lots of cows and squirrels
and other animals around here," Wanda Hudson said. "We have
a lot of people with kids."
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- Anthony said he doesn't think the birds
present a health danger, but advises wearing gloves to remove them from
yards.
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- "Just don't handle them, wear rubber
gloves to pick them up and place them in a plastic bag," he said.
"Viruses (in birds) usually don't affect humans.
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- "The only real threat to humans
is if it bacterial."
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