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The new year has started off with some weird stuff. Birds falling from the sky in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Sweden, and Canada. In Italy, a thousand turtle doves fell from the sky and all had a strange blue stain on their beaks. The explanation for the bird deaths has ranged from fireworks, thunderstorms, flying into invisible UFOs (that’s a good one), and disease. As for the turtle doves, Rodolfo Ridolfi, a director at the regional zoological institute, said:‘We are fairly confident the birds died as a result of massive indigestion brought on by over-eating. The most likely cause are discarded sunflower seeds that were found on an industrial estate close to where the bodies of the turtle doves were found.
‘In essence the birds were greedy, ate too many of the seeds – which we have found inside them during autopsies – and this brought on the indigestion that led to their death.’
An upset stomach killed them? OK. Where did the blue stain on their beaks come from? Blue-dyed M&Ms?
How about a river turning bright neon-green? This story is from Canada:
Horrified nature-lovers at Goldstream Provincial Park watched as the Goldstream River turned bright green late Wednesday afternoon.
The fluorescent green colouring appeared to start about 500 metres on the Victoria side of the entrance to the park and, over the course of an hour, the substance flowed down into the environmentally sensitive estuary.
By 5:30 p.m. the river, known for its dramatic salmon runs, eagles and other wildlife, was back to its normal colour.
Ministry of Environment teams were immediately sent to the area to investigate and members of Langford Fire Department collected samples for analysis.
No dead fish or animals had been found by early evening.
Earlier in the day a fountain beside Veterans Memorial Parkway in Langford also turned bright green, said Langford Fire Chief Bob Beckett.
The fountain turned green, too? How? Is it connected to the river? Do they know how the chemical got in the river and fountain? Duh.
Anyway, Canada’s Pacific Environmental Science Centre in North Vancouver tested the water from the river and the fountain and it turned out to be fluorescein. This is a chemical used to trace leaks from septic tanks and water systems.
I love the way the article says it’s not toxic, and then goes on to say: Fluorescein is also used in medical diagnosis and guidelines warn it can cause reactions ranging from nausea and hives to death from anaphylactic shock.