just bagged up a dead crow i found out front of my apartment..

[frylock]

I called the PD first, and they directed me to a West Nile hotline. They asked if there were any insects on the bird, and if not, could I put it in a container. There weren't any bugs, so I bagged it up and put it in the back of my truck. The woman on the hotline then informed me that someone would call IF they were going to come out. Now I have a dead crow in a trash bag, sitting in my pickup.

Anyone else have to deal with any dead birds around the house?

[22181]

1. Yup, had one in front of our driveway two weeks ago...

I called and they said they weren't going to come out to get it. We religiously wear insect repellent outside now.

[Philostopher]

2. Went through this a couple of years ago, in fact.

It was around this time of year, and we sat in our family room and watched the crow go through its death throes, debating whether it had been hit by a car or had West Nile. We'd pretty much concluded it had West Nile by the time it stopped flopping around, an hour later. A concussion would kill a bird much faster than that.

We called animal control where we live, and they asked us to hold the bird until they could confirm whether or not we were in an infested area. After a couple of (hot July) days, they finally called us to say they didn't need the bird -- they knew we had West Nile in our area already. They told us to just wrap it tightly and put it in the garbage. I'm sure the garbage company would have been thrilled if they'd known that -- it's a private company, not the city, so I guess they didn't care.

[frylock]

5. some guy from environmental health just called back..

he's got someone coming out to pick it up. Evidently they have been getting a lot of calls here in San Diego.

[RobertSeattle]

3. Whew - misread your subject line at first

Thought you wrote "Cow" not "Crow"...

[Cheswick2.0]

7. I thought the same thing..."how the hell is he supposed to bag a COW?"

I wondered how they could ask the poster to put a cow in a container?
:freak:

[Bandit]

4. Send it to Fox News with a dash of salt and pepper

:shrug:

[Renew Deal]

6. I have dead bird stories.

I was walking up to the Nathans in Westbury, NY and there was a dead, half gutted pigeon sitting on a paper bag by the front door. That was about 2 months ago.

Then, a couple weeks ago I was walking up to the train platform not paying attention. I noticed a crow flying straight up from where it was because I was approaching. I looked down and there was a bird opened up with it's heart still beating. The crow was having breakfast. It was nasty. :puke:

[PATRICK]

8. Uh, if it's on your doorstep

or close to where you exit and leave the house, do you have any wandering cats outside looking to make friends with you? These little offerings are common and the placement of the bird in that convenient location is a good clue it isn't the specter of West Nile knocking on your door but a feline prowler.

However, caution being the better part of valor treat "as if". Birds on the road obviously could have been hit. Other locations would be more suspicious.

[PATRICK]

9. Uh, if it's on your doorstep

or close to where you exit and leave the house, do you have any wandering cats outside looking to make friends with you? These little offerings are common and the placement of the bird in that convenient location is a good clue it isn't the specter of West Nile knocking on your door but a feline prowler.

However, caution being the better part of valor treat "as if". Birds on the road obviously could have been hit. Other locations would be more suspicious.

[Suspicious]

11. :)

These little offerings are common

That would be my thought, too. Three or four days a week, I find a mouse, bird or some other small animal on our doorstep from the neighbor's cats. Her cats visit us regularly for pets and treats, and I have always assumed this was their way of saying, "Thank you." :)

[Killarney]

10. Yep. We had one test positive.

Two years ago, we found a dead one in our yard and called the PD and it was taken away and tested. It tested positive for West Nile. But that was it. No one in my area ever got West Nile. I don't think it's a big deal. It's good that you called, though, so they can study it and keep counts, etc.

[lanparty]

12. News: "Doctors say birds actually DID die before West Nile Virus"

Atlanta Georgia - In a shocking statement, a Dr Moto of the CDC announced that contrary to previous beliefs, birds actually DID die before the advent of West Nile Virus. "At first we thought birds were immortal unless exposed to West Nile, but after conducting historical interviews, we've found that birds actually were mortal and have been found dead for centuries."

The statement is quite a relief to public health workers. Previously, they assumed that every bird they found was a potential case of West Nile Virus, a devastating disease similar to "a bad flu." They're now relieved to know that every dead crow they found could have possibly died of natural causes such as starvation, old-age and predation.

The CDC has also rescinded advisements of calling 911 and declaring a state of local emergency every time a dead bird is found. "Well, we've figured out that even if there is West Nile Virus in an area, there is nothing you can do about it short of intentionally killing the rest of the birds or fumigating areas with carniogenic insecticides that paradoxically make weaken the local avion populations making them even more succeptible to the virus."

When asked what someone should do about dead birds the official responded, "Either throw it away, or toss it into an open field. Every time we send someone to pick up one of those birds, we find half a dozen by the side of the rode on the way there and back. Your dead bird is NOT special, just throw the fucking thing away. We don't want your nasty dead crows!!!!!"