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Police in Gilbert, MN, are warning about a group of youthful residents unable to handle their alcohol. They've been drifting around town looking disoriented, narrowly avoiding getting hit by cars.
But these are not teenagers getting drunk. Instead, it's the local bird population.
Police Chief Ty Techar wrote in a statement Tuesday, "The Police Chief of the Police." An early frost meanwhile, it was explained that they were eating and getting drunk.
Incidents around town involving more than one year ago, Techar added, because many have not yet migrated south. "It seems that some birds are getting a little more 'tipsy' than normal," he wrote. "Generally, younger birds' can not handle the toxins as efficiently as more mature birds."
He concluded: "There is no need to call law on these birds as they should be sober up within a short period of time."
A number of Gilbert residents commented on the Facebook post and thanked the police department for explaining why the birds had been acting so strangely. One woman wrote that she had found three dead birds on her deck recently, while another one described quickly slamming on her brakes when a bird flew directly into her windshield. "This explains why I have hit this week," commented another.
"I was going to say something … but I thought I was crazy !!!" wrote one resident. "This has been happening to me!" She added, "I know this post is a joke … but seriously … 2 birds dove into my windshield both on the way to work and on the way home … I was wondering what was going on."
Another commented joked, "There is the chance of any bird from Northern MN ever being on the Supreme Court."
The police news release with a suggestion that residents of the small northern Minnesota town call if they see "Angry Birds laughing and giggling uncontrollably and appearing to be happy" or "Tweety acting as if 10 feet tall and getting into confrontations with cats."
Jokes aside, however, really can get intoxicated by eating fermented berries. A group of California scientists who performed necropsies on several flocks of cedar waxwings that had been collapsed. "Flying under the influence of ethanol" had been published in the Journal of Ornithology.
Obviously, birds can not exactly take a breathalyzer test. Matthew Dodder, a self-described "bird guy" with many years of classes in Palo Alto, California, told The Washington Post that the key to giveaway to tell the birds is their goofy behavior.
"They'll be flying kind of erratically," he said. "We usually see them flying less than usual through traffic, they're just careless and they're not looking for cars or other obstacles."
Certain bird species, such as robins, cedar waxwings and thrushes, are the most prone to drunken antics since they are more common than other species like warblers and flycatchers that primarily eat insects. Dodder said, "They're getting ready to fly south for winter, they can overindulge in an attempt to store up fat for the journey," Dodder said. The birds go to bush to bush trying to find more berries, their balance getting progressively worse.
"They just get sloppy and clumsy," Dodder said. "They actually fell out of trees on occasion."
In Portland, Oregon, the Audubon Society operates what is essentially a drunk tank for birds. "We are getting into our wildlife care center in the fall that are drunk on fermenting berries," Bob Sallinger, the conservation director for the Audubon Society of Portland, wrote in an email. "Sometimes they are picked up after crashing into others." "They are just going to be disoriented on the ground.
The same thing happens in Canada 's Yukon Territory, where they will be able to move into small animals until they are ready.
As humorous as it might be, bingeing on berries can be deadly for birds. Portland has seen multiple incidents in the past decade where between 30 and 50 robins In 2011, police were called to investigate the suspicious deaths of blackbirds at an elementary school in the United Kingdom, but have not been overlooked by the United States.
Because of a large number of birds, the Audubon Society recommends a wide range of reflective surfaces. And if you do come across a drunk bird that has survived a collision, Dodder recommends contacting an animal rescue or wildlife rehabilitation center.
"Sometimes, they just need a bit of time in a quiet setting to recover," he said.
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