Viewers have reached out to us, concerned about the number of dead pigeons they're seeing near downtown Reno.
They tell us they're seeing the animals in the street and sidewalks, specifically near the Arlington Bridge construction site.
While it may seem normal to see a couple dead birds every once in a while, one neighbor who lives in the area, named J, says seeing seven within a couple of days seems too suspicious, and whatever is affecting the birds could be affecting pets and people, too.
"If it's not old age, it's got to be something else," said J. "So it's either poison or the dust in the air, and my neighbor has been complaining about dust, and I kind of feel it a little bit too in my lungs. I'm a little bit younger than him, so it might affect older people, especially pets and children."
He says the air quality has gotten so bad that he no longer keeps his windows open and has to buy an air purifier. J tells us he's worried about walking his dog in the area since other people have complained about their pets getting sick.
RTC says all their equipment and materials are confined to their construction site, which is closed off to the public. And the only materials they're working with at this stage of the project are steel and concrete.
Josh MacEachern, public information officer for RTC, says, "You'll see piles of dirt that are being kept on site; those are being watered down continuously to make sure there's not a large amount of dust. Luckily, in this phase of construction, there's not really any digging going on because it's just concrete pour."
The City of Reno and the Nevada Department of Wildlife are both aware of the situation but say it's not in their field to look into the pigeons.
We also reached out to the Nevada Department of Agriculture, who say because pigeons are considered a pest species, it's not something they can investigate.
We'll continue to look into this.
