http://kdka.com/watercooler/usda.bir....2.918730.html
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) ―
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Dead birds like this one are scattered all over lawns across Franklin Township and Somerset County in New Jersey
Residents in a New Jersey town were stunned when hundreds of birds started dropping out of the sky to their deaths, but after officials explained why, residents became fuming mad.
Dead birds were found all over Franklin Township in Somerset County, reports CBS station WCBS-TV in New York City. Found on front lawns, rooftops, and even in the middle of the street, neighbors are still picking them up while others are frightened to even get near them.
Andrea Kepic says it was like a scene out of a horror movie when she walked out of her home Friday night.
"There was a dead bird on my stoop. Then I looked beyond and saw other dead birds on my steps," she says. "I thought first they were diseased."
Kepic says she looked around and there were dead birds as far as her eyes could see.
"I walked over to my car stepping over them," she says.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirms it is responsible for a controlled kill to reduce the European starling population. Township manager Ken Daly says the USDA placed seeds tainted with poison at a local farm to kill as many as 5,000 of the birds.
"The birds eat the seed and metabolize the poison and die with 24 hours," he tells WCBS. "Once they metabolize, the poison is gone so we've been told by USDA that the carcasses are not a danger to humans or any animals that might eat them."
The problem is Daly says the USDA kept the town in the dark so authorities couldn't warn neighbors, who saw birds falling from the sky.
"We did not receive notice of what they were going to do," he says.
Neigbhors are mad, too.
"We did clean it, but the people that are responsible for the poisoning these poor creatures, they should clean them," says Franklin Township resident Ray Kiveris.
Even though officials say neighbors shouldn't worry, Kepic has frozen a couple of birds and she plans on taking them to Rutgers University to have an autopsy done on them.
USDA officials say they believe either state or local officials were notified, but they're investigated. They also say they will help residents cleanup the mess.