Bird loses meal to power line: Lights out in Salem

Published 8:48 am Thursday, April 30, 2009

SALEM, Ore. — Utility workers suspect an osprey made a mess of its breakfast by dropping a fish on a power line, turning out the lights for folks trying to find their own way to start the day.

Salem Electric workers called to an outage on the west side of the state capital Wednesday found a burned 14-inch fish beneath the line.

The workers speculated it was a carp.

At nearby Hanard Machine Inc., maintenance supervisor and fisherman Rich Samsom told the Statesman Journal it was more likely a chub.

Samsom says ospreys like perching on power poles near the plant. The birds, raptors related to hawks and eagles, feed on fish.

Oregon Public Utility Commission spokesman Bob Valdez says an outage from an electrically fried fish is rare. Cooked squirrel is much more common.