Um...

Last weekend there were dozens and dozens of birds found dead along a local highway. European starlings. The Pennsylvania Game Commission was notified. Today, they announced their findings.

The birds were poisoned. Legally. By a local farmer who used a poison called Starlicide, which is designed specifically to kill European starlings. The Department of Agriculture considers these birds to be an invasive species so it’s okay to thin them out. In fact, they do it themselves in problematic areas. The stuff they use however, is stronger than that which farmers are permitted to handle so the birds they poison die on-site instead of flying away first.

There are an estimated 200 million European starlings nationwide and it is proven that they cause massive amounts of damage to farms since their introduction to this country in the 1890’s. I understand that they need to be controlled but I’m still not comfortable with the thought of hordes of them dropping from the sky on top of me.