-----Original Message-----
From: Harry Hill [mailto:harry_hill at sunshine.net]
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2001 8:40 AM
To: pnw-natives at tardigrade.net
Subject: Another reason not to plant non-native shrubs!

DRUNKEN BIRDS LITTER HIGHWAY

REDDING, Calif. (AP) -- As if driving along the nation's busy highways
wasn't difficult enough, now there's the danger of drunken birds.

Intoxicated birds spent the weekend here careening into car windshields and
flying into the pavement, leaving scores of bird carcasses along Interstate
5 in Shasta County.

"They had a real party," said state transportation spokeswoman Debbie Ginn.
No people were injured.

Now officials say they may be to blame.

The birds had apparently been eating the parneyi cotoneaster berry, a
fermenting fruit that gives birds an alcohol buzz. More than 20 years ago
its bushes were planted by state Department of Transportation landscapers.

Though they are hardy in dry, hot conditions, the berry bushes frequently
fall prey to insects, so they are no longer considered suitable to plant,
transportation officials said.

Highway Patrol officers joke they have been unable so far to catch the
drunken birds for FUI -- flying under the influence.

"They're not buying into the 'designated flier' program, either, and the
T-shirts don't fit them," California Highway Patrol spokesman Monty Hite
said Monday.

A message from the pnw-natives list.