It was something of a mystery why hundreds of rooks were falling from the skies. This was happening in January 1934 and all within just a few miles from the village of Melcombe Horsey, near Dorchester. The birds appeared to be flying from the direction of Wareham and Lulworth. Nothing like this had ever happened before in the county although there was some talk of it previously happening once in Hampshire. Hundreds were found dead in the woods and locals in North Hampshire were warned not to eat the dead birds.
Local rookeries contained thousands of birds which proved unwelcome pests to the Dorset farmers. One theory expressed was that a farmer who had fields of young corn had steeped grain in arsenic or some other poison such as strychnine and scattered this over the land where the rooks fed.
All the dead birds were either rooks or jackdaws and it was reported four cats, a dog and a fox also died in the neighbourhood. Followed the analysis of one of the dead birds, it was revealed it contained a deadly poison. People were warned not to eat any of the dead birds. Residents were concerned if pheasants consumed some of the poison the stricken game might reach the table. Melcombe Bingham’s post mistress said:
‘This affair has scared people because what kills rooks will kill other things.’
Following a Police Inquiry, it was concluded that the rooks had died after consuming flesh laced with strychnine which had been set out to eliminate vermin.
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