I had my Casey, a totally blind Umbrella Cockatoo adopted from Foster Parrots in August, 2000, on my arm when I greeted the young man and he suggested I put away my pet chickens that were grazing on the lawn, which I did. I put Casey back in his cage, which sits next to sliding doors that go out to a deck, the screen was open.

Shortly after the young man left I was standing next to Casey's cage when I smelled the strong odor of pesticide, so I shut the door. I looked over at Casey and did not like the way he was standing. I reached into his cage and asked him to step up, which he did, but something was terribly wrong, he had no grip, it was so weak. Suddenly he threw up his breakfast all over me and then had difficulty breathing. He started to shudder and then could not stand at all; he then let out 5 or 6 loud cries and died right there in my arms. This all happened very quickly, but it wasn't until sometime later that I realized it was a herbicide that had been used, as in the past I have opted to have my lawn care limited to only fertilizer.

I notified the lawn service and they brought me the particulars on the chemicals applied. It was TRIMEC PLUS, primarily made up of the ingredient known as 2,4-D, also the ingredient in Agent Orange, a well-known defoliant. The warnings to humans are that it can cause violent vomiting, difficulty breathing and loss of muscle control; exactly what happened to Casey.  The manufacturer is Bpi Gordon Company. They are very sorry this happened and have agreed to make a donation to Foster Parrots in  Casey's name (this is where Casey came from), so they are obviously aware that this CAN happen.

This doesn't mean that it kills all birds, but it surely must have some negative effect if it KILLED Casey.

Casey was the sweetest, most affectionate bird, which is surprising considering he was totally blind. He didn't deserve this horrible death, and I did not deserve to lose this special family member. The memories of that horrible day will haunt me forever.

Susan Freeman
Cape Cod, Massachusetts