On. Dec. 31, 2010, around 5,000 birds dove to their deaths in Beebe, Arkansas. On Jan. 2, 2011, 500 feathery relations littered the roads outside Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Reports surfacing Jan. 4 from Sweden indicate more of the same.
Simultaneously, fish began dying en masse. According to news estimates, 100,000 carcasses washed up along an Arkansas river on Jan. 1. On Jan. 5, we hear that thousands more dead fish have washed ashore off the Chesapeake Bay.
According to scientists and wildlife officials, massive bird deaths are fairly common. Usually, disease is the culprit. However, these same officials are a tad confused about the recent cases because the timing is a little too close for comfort.
The vast majority of the winged victims were dead before they hit the ground. Fireworks, one man says. Hail, says another woman. Trauma,the experts agree.
Some people reference Alfred Hitchcocks 1963 masterpiece, The Birds. In that classic scenario, birds in the San Francisco Bay area started attacking and killing people for reasons unknown. Lots of mayhem, explosions, plucked eyeballs. But we digress.
Or do we? Christian websites already proliferate dire apocalyptic predictions based on the birds and fish. Centuries ago, the Mayans chose 2012 as the date of our extinction. The dates keep changing, but the signs stay sufficiently sinister.
Are we worried? Are the Hitchcock experts and the apocalyptics coughing up blood? Whatever it is seems suspended in flight, far from human contact . . . so far. Meanwhile, were waiting for the movie coming soon to a theater near you. Hey, its a bird, its a plane, its . . . !
Copyright © 2011 by the Intermountain Jewish News
