Blank Cannon Evicts Starlings

The U.S. Department of Agriculture pulled out the big guns to chase messmaking starlings away from a bridge across the Columbia River between Kennewick and Pasco.

A cannon, firing blanks and timed to go off every few minutes, started blasting away after an estimated 20,000 starlings began roosting last week in the webbed girders of the blue bridge.

Bird droppings threatened to make the bridge deck a slippery mess. They also left car windshields smeared.

A propane-powered cannon was hauled in, sounding a boom every 5 to 15 minutes.

The cannon was set up Thursday. On Friday, Mahlon Watten, animal damage-control specialist for the USDA, said the flock of 20,000 was down to about 200.

He said the device would probably be used only a few more days.

Along with making a mess, starlings are known to carry disease, specifically salmonella.