The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-01-05
OF DUCKS
| REPORTED DYING
|s,ds Seem Paralyzed; Cannot
FIy and Are Barely Able
to Walk.
Dist INVESTIGATIONS
FAIL TO REVEAL CAUSE
|on Be Run Down on the Ice
and Caught With the
Hand.

!, reported that hundreds OF wild
~. have been and are dying at the
--,,h Of the Jordan river and many per-
Z, arr Inclined to believe that they are
~, from starvation. Anyhow, the
$50 has not been satisfactorily ex-
,I,.d. The birds NOPE around the
10, Of the sloughs and canals and have
- The strength TO fly and can easily be
-.,bt With the hand. This condition.
ing on n inc cold weather. makes
-s,y believe that the ducks are dying
IN starvation, but when II Is known
a, IN Georgia and Florida. thousands
L : ducks have been affected the same
n av in localities where there is no cold
u.ther then It becomes a question as
= zhat the real cause Is.
n same condition was reported sew
l r. years ago and party Of sportsmen
,rt to the mouth of the Jordan river
"a brought in fifty greenheads, The
.stss were all fat. with a few excep-
.ss. but could not fly. Several of the
aris were killed and when cut open their
RVS were filled with seeds OF various
| f,is which IN itself contradicted all re-
| vGts OF starvation
What Chemist Reported.
| was then thought that the smelter
,-nke was killing them or that mineral
uPr In the Jordan river was slowly
ysoning the ducks. a pair OF the
szkest birds were, taken to State Chem
: Harms, who failed TO find any traces
| poison and who also reported that the
ltts we're IN the best OF health as far
| y Be could see, 1t was then diagnosed
| b fsyeral Of the sportsmen as case OF
--scuar rheumatism contracted i'm long
tIhe especially during storms, and II
us thought that the ducks were never
/ ke 10 recover from the effects OF the
opposed exhaustion in their long flights.
When the birds were brought TO the
/ ity, over forty OF them were taken to
/ 4 Salt Palace but all died except four.
| IN lived almost two months but they
| nJsr got so they could fly and seemed to
| \ psralyzed, having little use OF their
|FaE a2d feet
4 similar condition was reported In
|Nfhigan northern Illinois and Indiana
ID Tx the cause OF the malady but came
y % decided conclusions, the matter re-
| aiming about the same as here.
i Is thought by many that the ducks,
lAIth nre dying. are birds that have been
y, By one or two pellets at some time In
sIOpslHe StaSOlls anu Willie
| Vi we're able TO fly away, the wounds.
|rgllhslarding that they have healed.
,rTed fatal after two or three months,
Il What Scientists Say.
|-seyeral OF the boys have been chasing
:, ducks over the Ice near the mouth Of
| :. rircr but they claim that all birds
D far caught were poor and unfit 10 eat,
|liich would indicate that they were
| nr1ng or had been shot,
&entists say that ducks will not
|are owing to the fact that they can
| 1Ee such long distances in & short
|Es Ducks fly at the rate OF from
/ ~ 10 l2O miles an hour. and 1t Is no
r=soe for the birds TO leave a frozen
rEtry and reach a warm place in 81
|U or less. Being a migratory bird.
| 3 duck Invariably leaves as soon as the
s','e cold sets in. For instance, the
1smon teal leave here the early part
Sptember and ii is very seldom that
Cinnamon teal is killed or even seen on
y opening day OF the shooting season,