Dear editor:

The skies of Powell are black at dusk with starlings. Their infestation is becoming a public health and safety problem. And, if not addressed soon it will be problematic to us, as it was to Rome in Jan. 29, 2022, when city officials had to dress in biohazard suits to cope with any sort of a solution to the many health issues these birds brought.

Many of our sidewalks are now covered with white poop. Fir trees have poop inches deep under them. According to several sites including Pest Control, Terminix.ca, Action Pest and the Daily Journal of Commerce: Oregon, starling droppings are not just unsightly, but unsanitary and create public health hazards. The poop itself spreads diseases to not only cattle and the surrounding livestock, but humans as well. These birds carry and transmit e.coli, paratuberculosis, salmonella, and transmit diseases like gastroenteritis to pigs. The droppings contain histoplasmosis fungi, which affects the lungs and, when it becomes airborne (yeah Wyoming wind) are very dangerous and can be fatal to humans if not treated.

I think it behooves the city to do something about this problem before we have too big of a mess.

Madeleine Van Epps

Powell