-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: January 28, 2007 9:42:37 PM PST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: 1000 Ducks Drop Dead, Fall from Sky in California
Massive duck die-off
Tiffany Revelle
Record Bee, January 23, 2007
Loren Freeman, a new warden assigned to Lake County, picks up more
ruddy ducks from the ground. A crew was brought from Sacramento to
assist in the cleanup of the dead waterfowl. They will stay in the
area until the cleanup is complete, which could last a few days.
Officials have requested that anyone who finds dead waterfowl not
touch them, but instead call the DFG at 275-8862. (Photo by Tiffany
Revelle
NORTH SHORE -- Another duck die-off hit the waters of Clear Lake
this weekend, claiming 1,145 waterfowl as of 4 p.m. Experts are
tentatively saying avian cholera is the culprit this time, pending
lab confirmation.
Avian cholera affects birds so quickly that they have been known to
sometimes literally drop out of the sky or die while swimming,
according to the National Wildlife Health Center. Approximately 40
percent of the affected birds die; those who don't become carriers.
According to Record-Bee outdoor columnist Terry Knight, although
all waterfowl are susceptible, the ruddy duck is Clear Lake's most
common carrier. Approximately 3,000 ruddy ducks winter on Clear
Lake, he added, which can easily turn into more than 10,000 in a
matter of days.
Almost 230 dead ducks were picked up this weekend by the Department
of Fish & Game, with some help from local residents. The birds, all
ruddy ducks, washed up on the shoreline stretching along Highway 20
between Nice and Lucerne.
Crews on two air boats and a lead biologist from the North Central
Region of the Department of Fish & Game arrived Monday afternoon to
find about 350 more between Nice and Lucerne and 600 in Paradise
Cove. Officials said most of them were ruddy ducks; a few mallards
and gulls were also found dead.
Lake County Fish & Game Warden Lynette Shimek said she and the
crews expect to work "however long it takes to get the birds
cleaned up," possibly stretching into days.
Shimek added Monday night that anyone who finds dead waterfowl
along the shoreline should not touch them or attempt to pick them
up, but call DFG. Shimek can be reached at 275-8862.
"The birds have not been tested yet," said Shimek Monday morning.
"So while this looks like cholera, we can't guarantee that that's
what it is until they are tested."
Loren Freeman holds one of more than 1,000 dead ruddy ducks found
along the Northshore since Saturday. The waterfowl, dying of a
disease suspected to be avian cholera, have been dying suddenly.
(Photo by Tiffany Revelle)
So far five samples are ready to go to DFG's Wildlife
Investigations Lab in Rancho Cordova, according to Associate
Wildlife Biologist Paul Hofmann of the North Central Region of the
Department of Fish & Game. There, they will undergo necropsy (the
equivalent of a human autopsy for animals) and tested for a variety
of diseases.
According to a Jan. 11 DFG press release about an avian cholera
outbreak in Butte Sink less than 100 miles east of Lake County
avian cholera die-offs usually happen during the winter months in
California, especially during cold spells and fog.
Hofmann said outbreaks are usually ending about this time of year,
and termed this outbreak "unusual."
If avian cholera is to blame for the die-off, he said, it may have
been aggravated by the recent cold snap.
"Stress and crowding is bad for people and birds," said Hofmann.
"It's the same as with humans ... your resistance is low under
stress."
As with any bird disease, said Hofmann, avian cholera is spread
when birds concentrate in one area. He added that they tend to fly
less and congregate more under stressful conditions.
The virus spreads through mucus when the birds are in close
proximity to each other by sneezing, shaking their heads, grooming
and pecking each other, and even through a spray emitted through
their nostrils when they take off for flight, said Knight.
"You don't stop this," said Knight. "It runs its course, and then
the birds leave," he said.
Hofmann noted that recent sunny skies and wavy conditions on the
lake from high winds tend to break up mucus on the water surface,
making for bad conditions for the spread of avian cholera. He
further noted that the ruddy ducks will be heading north again in a
couple of weeks.
Lake County saw close to 8,000 waterfowl die during an outbreak of
avian cholera in January of 2004.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.ctrl.org
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