Bird blowout set to begin this week

By ROB LARSON
Daily Press Staff Writer
If you hear fireworks on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night at sundown, don’t be alarmed. The Fourth of July hasn’t come early this year.
In order to deal with the bird dropping problem affecting Artesia’s Main Street, the City of Artesia, the Artesia Chamber of Commerce, Artesia MainStreet and Dean’s Pyrotechnics have come together and developed a solution. By firing fireworks at the trees which the grackles inhabit at dusk, the city and all parties involved hope to do away with the birds harmlessly. … For the rest of the story, subscribe in print and on the web.
“We’ve had such a problem with grackles in the past two years. I’ve spoken to dozens of people about this to try and come up with a solution because there are bird droppings everywhere,” Rebecca Prendergast, the director of Artesia MainStreet, said. “It’s also not just a problem here. It’s everywhere: Fort Worth, Dallas, Odessa, Midland, Albuquerque and Phoenix.”