Cackling Canada Geese Falling Out of the Oregon Sky
Recombinomics Commentary
February 6, 2005
>> Only cackling Canada geese, a small subspecies of the larger Canada goose, were affected, High said. Other varieties of birds, including ducks, gulls and 3 other species of geese were alive and well in both bodies of water.
The dead birds were found floating in the water. They appeared to swim with their heads under water, High said. Others were found on dry ground lying on their stomachs with wings flared out…….
Wildlife officials said that in recent weeks, large numbers of dead geese
also have been found in Monmouth and McMinnville. They don't know if the incidents are related. <<
The comment that only cackling Canada geese were involved would make poisoning unlikely if the dead geese in Monmouth and McMinnville were also just cackling geese, because the incidents would be separated by distance and time.
The separate incidents (a private pond off Wheatland Road and Staats Lake in Keizer, as well as Monmouth and McMinnville) in the same subspecies would suggest an infectious disease passed from one goose to another, rather than multiple poisonings infecting a specific subspecies. If the geese were killed by an infectious disease an obvious possibility would be bird flu.
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