LAKEPORT — When avian cholera swept across Clear Lake and claimed the lives of thousands of ducks in mid-January, Lake County”s finest stepped up to help with the cleanup efforts, a huge factor in keeping it from spreading even farther. One by one, each was recognized Tuesday for his or her help.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors issued seven proclamations commending members of the community for “their immediate response and ongoing assistance in the containment of avian cholera on Clear Lake.”
Recipients included Department of Fish & Game wardens Lynette Shimek, Loren Freeman and Ryan Maki, Sandie Elliot managing director of the local wildlife rescue organization SpiritWild, Kono Tayee residents Joe and Joanne Ramhorst for helping pick up the carcasses, Lakeport businessman George Bates for donating the use of his boat, and Katherine Yoder, Lucerne resident who also donated her time in the cleanup.
The die-off began the second week of January when citizens began reporting dead ducks to Elliot and DFG wardens. DFG personnel from the Northern Central Region (Region 2) arrived on Jan. 22 to address the die-off and collect samples, then pulled out the following Thursday.
Robert Floerke, regional manager of DFG”s Central Coast Region said in a March 15 press release, “While present budget restrictions severely restricted the department”s ability to respond, volunteers stepped up to the plate and filled the gap.”
“It felt natural,” said Yoder of her willingness to help this winter season. “I love the lake and the wildlife, and it felt like a natural thing to do.”
Elliot noted that the Ramhorsts and Yoders also helped with the cleanup in a similar avian cholera outbreak in 2004 that killed nearly 8,000 waterfowl.
At Shimek”s last count, just short of 8,000 dead waterfowl were found in this year”s die-off as well. The majority of those were collected by boat between one-half mile and one mile out from the Lucerne and Glenhaven shoreline, about halfway between Lucerne and Lakeport, said Shimek.
DFG reports that avian cholera affects all waterfowl and is not related to human cholera. Still, volunteers who helped pick up the dead birds were asked to wear rubber gloves. The birds were sampled to confirm the cholera diagnosis and taken to a landfill.
The disease affects the birds so quickly that they sometimes have been known to literally drop out of the sky in midflight or while swimming, according to the National Wildlife Health Center. It is caused by a strain of the bacterium Pasteurella multocida.
Shimek reported the final count of birds affected included 20 grebes, 15 coots, 12 gulls, four geese, four buffleheads, three mergansers, two herons and two owls, which are not waterfowl. Shimek noted that adding to that oddity was that the owls were found floating in the middle of the lake.
Ruddy ducks were the primary species spreading the disease in this die-off, with their death toll at 7,941. Their tendency to raft, or congregate tightly for warmth, makes them particularly susceptible. Cold, foggy conditions in mid-January and February likely contributed to the phenomenon, creating stress for the birds, still waters making for easy spread of the infected mucus, and a greater tendency for the ducks to cluster, according to Associate Wildlife Biologist Paul Hoffmann of the DFG”s North Central Regional office.
“It”s a phenomenon all over the world now,” said Elliot. “These outbreaks come more often, they kill more animals off and they last longer. It”s because we”ve pushed wildlife into very, very small areas,” added Elliot, noting that any disease spreads more quickly when animals congregate closely.
Ruddy ducks are migratory birds that bring the disease with them to Clear Lake, according to Elliot.
Record-Bee Outdoorsman columnist Terry Knight noted recently that the lake sees an average of 5,000 to 10,000 in the winter and early spring months.
This year”s avian cholera outbreak was one of three recent oubreaks the DFG reported in California, according to a January press release. Butte Sink Wildlife Management Area in Colusa County and Merced National Wildlife Refuge in Merced County have also seen die-offs. California hosts more than 60 percent of the waterfowl that winter in the Pacific Flyway, numbering between four and six million migrating waterfowl.
Clear skies, warmer temperatures and wavy conditions from winds picking up have contributed to the official end of the die-off this year, along with southward migration. Elliot and Shimek noted the die-off ended near the middle of February.
“Hopefully we won”t see this every year,” said Elliot.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
