While residents are flooding Facebook with reports of geese twitching, spinning, and dying en masse at David Casey Park, Dupree Park, Patterson Park, and even in their own front yards, the City of Lubbock Health Department has opted for radio silence—at least on the bird situation. Multiple witnesses describe scenes straight out of a low-budget apocalypse movie: Canada geese with twisted necks, waterfowl flailing in circles, and dead birds piling up along lake shores over several days. South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center has been fielding the concern, while the city… has not.
Instead, the Health Department’s social media presence is focused on an increase in pertussis (whooping cough) cases across Texas. Important, sure—but maybe a little jarring when people can literally see dying birds from their apartment windows and are being told, essentially, “Huh, weird, nobody’s reported that.” Spoiler: they absolutely have.
Residents report calling Lubbock Animal Services about geese showing neurological symptoms days earlier, only to continue seeing more birds deteriorate. Meanwhile, commenters are left comparing notes online, crowdsourcing public health awareness like it’s a neighborhood bake sale—except the cupcakes are diseased waterfowl.
This all comes on the heels of earlier warnings about avian flu circulating in Lubbock, when the city finally advised people not to touch sick birds. Bold leadership. Especially in a region already juggling high COVID rates and a general cultural allergy to preventative health measures, the “wait and see” approach feels less like caution and more like denial with better branding.
So are we doing early warnings now—or do we still wait until day three, after the geese, the pets, and common sense have already tapped out?