Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 9, 1993                   TAG: 9312090214
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

200 BIRDS DEAD ALONG I-81

In Rockbridge County, state Department of Transportation workers counted 91 dead blackbirds in a ditch along the northbound interstate, near U.S. 60.

Officials with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries were en route to collect the birds and investigate the cause of death.

"We just don't know" what killed the birds, said Mike Henry, a maintenance manager in the county's Department of Transportation office.

Another worker had noticed some dead birds Sunday, Henry said, but had not mentioned it until another bird kill was reported in Augusta County about 10 a.m. Wednesday.

In that incident, about 75 birds were found dead or dying at a rest stop along the northbound lane of I-81.

Antifreeze is the suspected culprit.

Some of the birds were taken to the Wildlife Center of Virginia in nearby Weyers Cave. There, Dr. Stuart Porter, director of veterinary services, performed an autopsy on a cowbird and said he suspected antifreeze.

"Birds are attracted to it because it's a liquid," he said. "People don't realize how toxic that is."

A puddle of antifreeze was found at the rest area, apparently spilled when someone filled a radiator.

Ed Clark, center director, said thousands of pets die each year by drinking the sweet-tasting liquid. It crystalizes in the kidneys and quickly causes renal failure.

Clark said some people who were helping collect the dead birds in Augusta described the birds trying to take off and fly away, only to "fall from the sky."

The northbound rest area will be closed until another autopsy, by state officials, is complete.

The state game department will investigate both incidents.