The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has completed its testing of gulls found dead near the Orchards Mall last week and says they did not have avian flu.
A large number of dead gulls could be seen along Napier Avenue and Pipestone Road late last week, prompting us to contact the Berrien County Health Department. County Health Officer Guy Miller told us last Friday he didn’t think the avian flu was likely the cause, but the DNR was checking.
At the time, Miller thought the heatwave and malnourishment were more likely causes of the deaths.
“I think this is likely what we have seen in the years past, where these birds get dehydrated, they get a little bit weak, they’re malnourished, maybe they’re overpopulated at that location, and that causes them not to be able to fly as well,” Miller said last Friday. “Maybe they’re in the road, in the way of a motor vehicle, and they get struck by it. That’s kind of what it looks like.”
Miller told us similar situations occurred in previous years, and in those cases, the heat and malnourishment were also found to be the cause of death of the gulls.
The DNR reported its test results to the health department Thursday.
Meanwhile, the health department tells us the DNR is still conducting a full autopsy on some of the birds, and the results of that won’t be available for a few weeks. Therefore, questions about whether the gulls were poisoned are still up in the air.
