next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------080309060602030004010406 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Duck massacre story dead in the water By DAVENE JEFFREY Staff Reporter There wasn't a fireworks- fuelled duck massacre at Dartmouth's Sullivans Pond last Saturday evening, according to a city official, a naturalist and a fireworks expert. Rumours have swirled around metro about a large number of dead ducks found at the pond following a small fireworks show that was put on for the crowd attending Dartmouth's Christmas tree lighting ceremony. As the family- oriented show began near downtown Dartmouth, there was talk among the spectators who lined the small pond that as many as 30 ducks were killed at the event last year. Since then, at least one media outlet has carried a news story about ducks having been felled by fireworks, a Halifax phone- in radio show was devoted to the alleged killing and this newspaper has received outraged letters to the editor. " People have said there were six or seven ducks," said John O'Brien, spokesman for Halifax Regional Municipality. " But the chairman of the ( tree- lighting) committee and our people walked the whole pond ( after the show) and there was one ( dead) duck," he said. " Whether or not ( the death) was the result of the fireworks or the show there that evening, or whether something happened earlier and it was just discovered after ( the show), remains to be seen," Mr. O'Brien said. Talk of dead ducks also came as news to FredWade, owner of Fireworks F/ X, which put on the pyrotechnic show that night. " I don't know of any casualties," Mr. Wade said. At the beginning of the show, Mr. Wade fired off several large sparklers, which sent a shower of silver sparks over seven metres into the air. As the sparks lit up the pond, flocks of ducks took flight from the water and flew over the heads of the crowd in waves. " We try to get the ducks moving and away," Mr. Wade said. When the loud fireworks started, most of the birds had cleared the pond, although a few appeared disoriented and flew in circles near the exploding, bright lights. After the show was over, Mr. Wade said his crew checked the shoreline where they set off the fireworks and found no dead ducks. It is unlikely that any duck would die as the result of fireworks, said Nova Scotia Bird Society member Fulton Lavender. " They are very agile and good navigators," Mr. Lavender said in a telephone interview Wednesday. " I'm suspecting if they found a dead duck, it was likely from some other reason," the avid birder said . ( djeffrey@herald.ca) --------------080309060602030004010406 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> <title></title> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> <font class="Content_Headlines-links">Duck massacre story dead in the water</font><br> <br> By DAVENE JEFFREY Staff Reporter <p><font class="Content_body-links">There wasn’t a fireworks- fuelled duck massacre at Dartmouth’s Sullivans Pond last Saturday evening, according to a city official, a naturalist and a fireworks expert. Rumours have swirled around metro about a large number of dead ducks found at the pond following a small fireworks show that was put on for the crowd attending Dartmouth’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> As the family- oriented show began near downtown Dartmouth, there was talk among the spectators who lined the small pond that as many as 30 ducks were killed at the event last year. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> Since then, at least one media outlet has carried a news story about ducks having been felled by fireworks, a Halifax phone- in radio show was devoted to the alleged killing and this newspaper has received outraged letters to the editor. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> “ People have said there were six or seven ducks," said John O’Brien, spokesman for Halifax Regional Municipality. “ But the chairman of the ( tree- lighting) committee and our people walked the whole pond ( after the show) and there was one ( dead) duck," he said. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> “ Whether or not ( the death) was the result of the fireworks or the show there that evening, or whether something happened earlier and it was just discovered after ( the show), remains to be seen," Mr. O’Brien said. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> Talk of dead ducks also came as news to FredWade, owner of Fireworks F/ X, which put on the pyrotechnic show that night. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> “ I don’t know of any casualties," Mr. Wade said. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> At the beginning of the show, Mr. Wade fired off several large sparklers, which sent a shower of silver sparks over seven metres into the air. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> As the sparks lit up the pond, flocks of ducks took flight from the water and flew over the heads of the crowd in waves. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> “ We try to get the ducks moving and away," Mr. Wade said. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> When the loud fireworks started, most of the birds had cleared the pond, although a few appeared disoriented and flew in circles near the exploding, bright lights. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> After the show was over, Mr. Wade said his crew checked the shoreline where they set off the fireworks and found no dead ducks. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> It is unlikely that any duck would die as the result of fireworks, said Nova Scotia Bird Society member Fulton Lavender. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> “ They are very agile and good navigators," Mr. Lavender said in a telephone interview Wednesday. </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> “ I’m suspecting if they found a dead duck, it was likely from some other reason," the avid birder said . </font></p> <p><font class="Content_body-links"> ( djeffrey@herald.ca) </font></p> </body> </html> --------------080309060602030004010406--
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects