Source: http://ift.tt/hFWySe - Tuesday, March 24, 2015
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Land owners surprised to discover tens of thousands of dead birds across the high desert are criticizing the federal government over a mass killing of starlings in northern Nevada. A U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman said a pesticide was used to destroy the birds to prevent the spread of disease to dairy cows. Some area residents, however, say the government should have done more to alert the public and to dispose of the dead birds. European starlings, introduced to the U.S. in 1890, are considered an invasive species and have been the target of similar eradication efforts in Nevada and elsewhere for decades. About 2 million starlings were destroyed in 2013, nearly 50,000 in Nevada, to assist farmers, according to Agriculture Department records. Authorities have used DRC-1339 in recent weeks to kill flocks of birds at the request of farmers in Fallon and Fernley east of Reno, and Yerington, about 90 miles southeast of Reno, Agriculture spokesman Travis Kocurek said. Starlings transmit livestock diseases and cause crop losses, Kocurek said in an email. "Bird feces can contaminate food and water sources, putting cattle at risk for salmonella and E. coli infections if ingested," he wrote. Hundreds of thousands of starlings usually pass through northern Nevada each winter. But their numbers spiked this year as over a million flocked to the state, possibly due to extreme cold temperatures in Canada and the nor
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RENO, Nev. (AP) — Land owners surprised to discover tens of thousands of dead birds across the high desert are criticizing the federal government over a mass killing of starlings in northern Nevada. A U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman said a pesticide was used to destroy the birds to prevent the spread of disease to dairy cows. Some area residents, however, say the government should have done more to alert the public and to dispose of the dead birds. European starlings, introduced to the U.S. in 1890, are considered an invasive species and have been the target of similar eradication efforts in Nevada and elsewhere for decades. About 2 million starlings were destroyed in 2013, nearly 50,000 in Nevada, to assist farmers, according to Agriculture Department records. Authorities have used DRC-1339 in recent weeks to kill flocks of birds at the request of farmers in Fallon and Fernley east of Reno, and Yerington, about 90 miles southeast of Reno, Agriculture spokesman Travis Kocurek said. Starlings transmit livestock diseases and cause crop losses, Kocurek said in an email. "Bird feces can contaminate food and water sources, putting cattle at risk for salmonella and E. coli infections if ingested," he wrote. Hundreds of thousands of starlings usually pass through northern Nevada each winter. But their numbers spiked this year as over a million flocked to the state, possibly due to extreme cold temperatures in Canada and the norfrom Top News on RSS Feeds http://ift.tt/1IqLkyX
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