In November, 2008 we told you about a flock of European Starlings that conspired to start a fire using a power lline:
…the downed line was a result of a huge flock of European starlings — an 8-9 inch glossy black bird — landing on the lines. When the starlings all took off at the same time, it caused the lines to bounce too close to each other, causing the circuit to open up and cutting off power and causing a neutral line to fall to the ground.
And in April, 2009, a sparrow picked up a lit cigarette butt and placed it in it’s nest in the eaves of a store in the UK:
The resulting conflagration caused £250,000 of damage at Crescent Stores in Leasingham, near Sleaford, Lincolnshire.
Now a vulture is the culprit in another case of serial avian-arson. But in this case it is a suicide-arson. From the Katy (Texas) Times:
Firefighters said a vulture was the cause of a fire that destroyed approximately three acres of dry grass and brush on Groeschke Road just west of Highway 6 Wednesday afternoon.
According to a spokesperson at the Houston Fire Department Engine 90, the vulture’s large wingspan caused it to hit the telephone pole, electrocuting it. The dead bird fell, igniting the ground below. Dry conditions and dead grass caused the fire spread quickly.
Look UP when you’re outside….I’m just saying.
How do we deal with this threat? Should we appoint a Special Avian-Arson Commission to look into this? Or a special prosecutor? Should Obama speak out more forcefully on this very serious issue? Where are Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, and Jon Stewart on this? Has the new Chief of the Forest Service weighed in?
Should we negotiate with the Avians? And, with or without pre-conditions?
