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A German biologist says that efforts to clean oil-drenched birds in the Gulf of Mexico are in vain. For the birds' sake, it would be faster and less painful if animal-rescue workers put them under, she says. Studies and other experts back her up.
Originally posted by DaMod
Talk about false advertising.
Once covered in oil, a bird will use its bill and tongue to remove the toxic substance from their feathers. Despite oil's terrible taste and smell, a bird will still try and clean itself because it can't live without fluffy feathers that repel water and regulate its body temperature. "Their instinct to clean is greater than their instinct to hunt, and as long as their feathers are dirty with oil, they won't eat," Gaus says.
******SKIP******
Catching and cleaning oil-soaked birds oftentimes leads to fatal amounts of stress for the animals, Gaus says. Furthermore, forcing the birds to ingest coal solutions -- or Pepto Bismol, as animal-rescue workers are doing along the Gulf Coast -- in an attempt to prevent the poisonous effects of the oil is ineffective, Gaus says. The birds will eventually perish anyway from kidney and liver damage.
Originally posted by Happyfeet
I remember back in the 90s reading through research papers published by people who worked on the Exxon-Valdize oil spill. Birds would have to be force fed a slurry of fish and...chips(crackers or something else.) that was pureed in a blender. The workers would have to stick a feeding tube into the bird's gullet in order to feed them, it was in no way humane. Any bird that gets badly oiled is better of getting it's neck snapped, or a shotgun blast if it would be more humane.
DAMN BP! It's all their fault these animals are suffering.