Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 19:43:36 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: david pierce Subject: Re: ice melt harmful to birds? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Robert Weiner wrote: > fellow ospreyers, > > during this weekend's ice storm I was both trying to keep my feeders > stocked and my steps clear, when it occurred to me that the two may be > incompatible. does anyone know whether ice melt is harmful to birds? the > label says only that the ingredient potassium chloride is harmful to > people but not plants. > If potassium chloride is the only ingredient I don't think it would be harmful to birds or plants since potassium is much less plentiful in the environment. The only reason I can think of why the level says it can be harmful to people is that if large amounts are ingested it COULD upset the sodium/potassium balance in the body . That balance is the basis for nerve impulse transmission. David Pierce ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================