Now There Are Dead Birds in Louisiana, Too

Okay, this is just getting creepy: An estimated 500 red-winged blackbirds were found lying dead or dying along a quarter-mile stretch of Louisiana highway yesterday, the Advocate reports. A number of the bodies have been shipped to labs in Georgia and Wisconsin for testing, but the rest were left lying in the road for passing motorists to gawk at.

The incident comes just three days after the deaths of 3,000 blackbirds in Arkansas. Necropsies of those birds showed that they suffered internal injuries that led to fatal blood clots (click here for some theories). A Louisiana wildlife veterinarian says it could take weeks to determine the cause of death, but he says mass bird deaths aren’t unheard of. “Underlying disease, starvation and cold fronts” have caused similar, albeit smaller, deaths “in various species over the years.” Yeah, that sounds reasonable. Alternatively, it could be a sign of the coming Apocalypse. (More animal deaths in Arkansas stories.)