LAKE COUNTY — Lab results confirmed Thursday morning that avian cholera was to blame for the massive die-off that hit Clear Lake”s water birds this weekend.
The California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory confirmed what local experts suspected: avian cholera caused the duck die-off. That means residents who find dead birds on their property can help the DFG in the clean-up effort, with proper safety precautions.
“We got a positive diagnosis of cholera, which is what we had suspected all along,” said DFG Warden Lynette Shimek. “That does open the doors for people to be able to pick up birds off of their own shorelines. We still advise them to wear rubber gloves,” added Shimek.
She said any gloves will do, or an inverted plastic bag can be placed over the hand and then used to enclose the carcass. “Don”t come in direct contact with the birds,” said Shimek, adding that common-sense safety precautions should be taken. “Anytime you handle a dead animal, you want to wear gloves,” noted Shimek.
The way to prevent the disease from spreading “involves the prompt removal and disposal of dead birds,” according to a Thursday DFG press release. The report goes on to note that avian cholera is not related to human cholera and does not affect humans.
Shimek said the carcasses of any dead birds found on the shoreline can be put in plastic bags at the front of a resident”s property and DFG will pick them up. Shimek can be reached at 275-8862 to report dead birds.
Clean-up and prevention
Including the 794 dead birds collected this morning, an estimated 4,000 of Clear Lake”s waterfowl have fallen victim to avian cholera since the start of the weekend. Sandi Elliot of local wildlife rescue organization SpiritWild said she got her first call reporting dead ducks Friday night.
DFG personnel from the Northern Central Region (Region 2) arrived Monday afternoon to address the die-off and collect samples that were tested for a variety of ailments, including avian influenza. Shimek said they are pulling out today and handing over the clean-up to local DFG wardens.
“If they”re having a hard time finding birds, then we”ll probably scale it back and game wardens will work with volunteers this weekend,” said Shimek of the ongoing clean-up effort. She added that the highest number of birds found this afternoon was 27 on one of the boats.
Ninety-eight percent of the birds DFG is picking up are ruddy ducks, with a slight increase in gulls and other waterfowl. So far, she added, DFG”s effort to prevent the virus from spreading to the southern portions of the lake, where the heavy grebe populations are, have been successful.
Elliot said that gulls eat the bodies of the dead ruddy ducks floating on the water. Since avian cholera affects gulls more slowly than it affects ruddy ducks, said Elliot, they have more time to spread the virus to other waterfowl.
Most recently, Shimek said she was headed to Borax Lake Thursday afternoon to answer a report of more dead ducks, but was not sure of how many.
Shimek said a lot of the birds picked up Thursday were decomposed and had died days ago. That”s a good sign, she said, “because it shows that there are not as many birds dying at this point.”
The carcasses are being taken to the county dump and buried.
Help wanted
Shimek said the public can help in the clean-up effort as long as they do not have direct contact with the birds.
What local DFG wardens need, she said, is help picking up the birds. Anyone with a boat, a net that can be used for collection, or just time to help can contact her at the number above and be directed how to help.
DFG”s effort to prevent the die-off from spreading continues, and anyone finding ducks on their property is asked to clean them up wearing gloves and contact her for pick-up.
The trend
Ruddy ducks are a migratory bird bringing avian cholera with them as some winter on Clear Lake and others pass through on their way north. The tendency of ruddy ducks to congregate tightly makes them prime targets for the bacteria, and efficient carriers.
According to Record-Bee outdoors columnist Terry Knight, ruddy ducks come to Clear Lake during the winter and early spring months in numbers averaging 5,000 to 10,000.
A DFG press release explained that avian cholera die-offs commonly occur during the winter months in California, especially during cold spells and fog.
“California is the winter home and migration area for over 60 percent of the waterfowl that winter in the Pacific Flyway,” said DFG Wildlife Biologist Dan Yparraguirre. He went on to say in the press release that between four and six million waterfowl pass through California, making it “one of the most important wintering areas for waterfowl in North America.” The Central Valley in particular is a primary destination for overwintering waterfowl.
Shimek said that although the numbers are significantly less, this die-off is following the pattern of the one in 2004.
This year”s avian cholera outbreak is one of three the DFG reports in California. There have been die-offs at the Butte Sink Wildlife Management Area in Colusa County and Merced National Wildlife Refuge in Merced County. There may be more as winter continues, said the DFG press release, but deaths can be expected to diminish in late February as migration southward begins.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
