Unintended consequences - duck deaths
A utility places a new transmission line between a large lake on a duck migratory path and fields of grain that they eat.
You can guess what happens next -- from the
Calgary Sun:
Dozens of dismembered ducks believed to have been killed by transmission lines near Pincher Creek
Eagles and ravens don�t eat wings, apparently � and that�s made counting the carnage in Alberta�s latest duck disaster all too easy.
Dozens of dismembered mallard wings are all that greeted retired forest scientist David McIntyre as he investigated reports of a mass bird kill just north of Pincher Creek.
There, beside a newly-built power transmission line, McIntyre found an ongoing banquet for local avian scavengers, including seven eagles, a dozen ravens and a hawk � all of them gorging on dead ducks, scattered beneath the wires.
They eat the duck, and leave the wings behind.
�It appears obvious that the line�s placement, directly between a key waterfowl staging area and adjacent grain fields, couldn�t have been planned more effectively if killing waterfowl had been its primary objective,� said McIntyre, a well-known environmentalist in the area.
�The biggest thing to me in all of this, is how in the world was such an obvious threat allowed to take place?�
Like they said, this is something that could have been prevented had due diligence been done. I hope the utility is forced to relocate the lines...
Posted by DaveH at January 9, 2014 2:02 PM