Crows & Health

[Guest guest]

Crows & Health

- Jennings

12/22/2005 4:56:33 PM

http://www.wthitv.com/newsdet.asp?id=10312

WTHI - Terre Haute,IN

We know crows are a nuisance, but tonight, growing concern the

mess crows leave could cause a potentially deadly disease. The

disease is called histoplasmosis. It is a long word for a dangerous

lung fungus caused by bird droppings.

Every night, the mob of birds descends on downtown Terre Haute to

roost. Every morning they leave more mess behind. Doctor Kayur Patel

says that mess could be dangerous, " Fungal infections,

histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, these are common in bird droppings. "

Marry Murray learned about histoplasmosis the hard way: she had it

many years ago. Murray says, " I was sick to my stomach, I couldn't

eat, I couldn't sleep, I hurt, it was hard to breath. "

Now, she worries bird droppings outside the senior center could make

her friends sick. Murray says, " We have people on oxygen. We have

people who are diabetic and have a lot of ailments. If they ever

caught that, they would be in a mess. They wouldn't survive. "

And doctors say just walking around may not be enough. Patel

says, " It's really hard just to totally avoid it because a lot of it

is just air transmission, just air particles across the atmosphere

so if there's a high concentration you could be two blocks away and

still pick it up. "

And while the health concerns surrounding this mess are serious, can

anything be done to stop it? The answer is yes. Some folks have come

up with creative solutions to solve the crow problem.

's Dental bought a system that plays bird noises crows find

frightening. Neil Garrison with 's Dental says, " We've had it

for two years and have had no problem at all. We thought we might

have some problems with neighbors but nobody has complained. "

And Langman's wildlife knows ways to move the pesky birds. Wayne

Langman says, " If you have an area that is acceptable for the

roost. . . The crows will move there in time, you just have to

harass them enough to the point where they decide to move. "

Solutions that could possibly prevent sickness or save a life.

Langman's Wildlife says relocating all the crows in Terre Haute

would be possible, but it could take a while, and cost a lot of

money.

[Guest guest]

All bird droppings - and indeed, I think, all feces in general,

including human ones, are nutrient-rich mold growth media. Picking on

birds of one particular color strikens me as a bit of a mistake. It

smacks of racism. (Not against birds, against humans.)

What about pigeons? Or seagulls?

Or perhaps the poor black birds aren't really the subject...

It reminds of the people who fanatically run around griping about

'non-native plants' ruining the ecosystem. Or people who blame certain

breeds of dogs for attacks on humans, rather than their owners, the

people who train them, by mistreating them, to hate..

Honestly..

There have always been birds in cities.. and in rural areas..

And there are so many REALLY urgent issues that we need to focus on,

like mold, rather than waste people's energies on diversionary ones..

Maybe that is their point. Burn people out with lots of meaningless

noise.. so that the real crises will be hidden down in the noise..