dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sam Conway) (09/25/90)
The osprey which I've lately described has died, apparently from aspergillosis. Aspergillus flavus is an airborne fungus that has a nasty habit of attacking birds whose strength has been greatly sapped. It also likes peanuts, and has contributed to several zillion deaths among humans since time began. We had been using chelation therapy, namely the administration of calcium EDTA (ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid). In a nutshell, it bites onto heavy metals and makes them water soluble, so they can wash through the bird. That, for the non-chemists out there. Chemists shouldn't need it explained. We found in its stomach several mid-sized rocks, a Japanese beetle, some grain, and what looks like it might have been a thistle. This bird was suspected of lead poisoning, which is known in humans to affect the mind. Does everyone remember the ill-fated Franklin Expedition of 1848? A shipful of men, having devoured food thought to have been tinned with lead, abandoned their icebound vessel and trekked a thousand miles across the ice (in the wrong direction), lugging two longboats piled high with curtain rods, prayer books, writing desks, and assorted inedible and useless sundries. Perhaps this might explain the contents of the bird's stomach. That, or it was starving and desparate. -- Sam Conway * What shape do you usually have? dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu * Mickey Mouse shape? Smarties Chemistry Dept., Dartmouth College, NH * shape? Amphibious landing craft Vermont Raptor Center (VINS) * shape? Poke in the eye shape?