Vulture vendetta ongoing in Radford VA.

[Donna]

Officers have begun trying to scare off the birds with noisemakers.

File 2007 Vultures' numbers peak in the area each December, as part of their normal migratory pattern.

The Roanoke Times

File 2007 Vultures' numbers peak in the area each December, as part of their normal migratory pattern.
RADFORD -- Once again, Radford animal control officers are trying to convince a group of vultures that they'd be better off somewhere else.

After getting an increased number of complaints about vultures roosting on top of McHarg Elementary School and Radford Child Care and Preschool, the officers have begun trying to scare off the birds with noisemakers.

"We're basically chasing them all over the place," city spokeswoman Becky Hawke said.

The officers fire "bird bangers" -- devices that shoot blanks -- in the air near the vultures to scare them off, then follow them to their next spot and do it again.

In the winters of 2002 and 2003, animal control officers chased hundreds of black and turkey vultures, which are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, out of a neighborhood bordered by Wadsworth Street, Sundell Drive and Roosevelt Avenue.

They kept showing up, their numbers peaking each December, as part of their normal migratory pattern.

In 2004, vultures were again chased out of the city as part of an ongoing study of the birds and what happens when they are forced out of their homes, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture said at the time.

As part of the study, experts realized that the vultures roosting in the city made up the flock that once lived at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant, which had one of the largest roosts east of the Mississippi River. It was not clear why they moved.

"We didn't actually start having problems with them until this year," said Selena Cox, the program director and education coordinator at Radford Child Care.

The birds had roosted at nearby McHarg Elementary for years, but didn't make their way to Radford Child Care until April or May, she said.

Since then, the numbers have grown significantly, she said.

Radford police Chief Don Goodman said more than 100 of the birds have been seen on McHarg's roof at a time. They have damaged the roof by tearing at it, he said.

"We'll go and disrupt them and make them move along," Goodman said. The goal, he said, is to move them to a place where they won't damage property.

At Radford Child Care, Cox said, the birds stay mostly on the roof or in the trees.

But sometimes they come lower -- usually going for playground balls.

"They'll actually pick them up and play with them," Cox said.

The center didn't want children playing with something that had been in the mouth of an animal that primarily eats carrion, so the balls were removed.

Cox said that when the noisemakers are used at Radford Child Care, the birds go to McHarg. When they're used at McHarg, they go back to Radford Child Care.

Hawke said she knows the noisemakers are a temporary fix.

"Radford is notorious for having a large population of vultures," she said. "They really seem to like Radford."

And many people in Radford like the vultures. Vulture Day is held every year for people to learn about and watch the birds.

Still, they aren't welcome everywhere.

"I just wish they'd leave," Cox said. "I wish they'd go somewhere else."

[Bird Crazy]

I know lets just stress the birds out....

people 

[Donna]

http://wfmz.img.entriq.net/htm/PopUpPlayer-v3.htm?articleID=1312689&v=a  video


REPORTER: One vulture flying can be ominous, but what if your neighborhood was surrounded.

>> ROBERT POINDEXTER: It was unbelievable it was like a horror film. Of course I'm looking at this and it looks like one too.

>> REPORTER: Robert Poindexter is looking at the vultures all around his home near Pendora Park in southeast Reading.

>> POINDEXTER: I'm sorry... They're black vultures. And if you study them on the Internet, they have some carnivorous tendencies.

>> REPORTER: Vultures are scavengers but as our wildlife expert from the Penn State Cooperative Extension took a look, he says there is nothing to be concerned about.

>> RICK KAUFFMANN: There should be no fear involved they're not out there for any evil purposes they're not going to do anything to cats or dogs, or anything in the neighborhood.

>> REPORTER: Even a neighborhood that is being overwhelmed.

>> POINDEXTER: It started out with probably 4 or 5 of them since then they've multiplied to look like a couple a hundred. We haven't actually counted them but if you see them together it looks like a couple of hundred.

>> REPORTER: It may look unusual, but vultures are known to migrate to Southeastern Pennsylvania because of milder winters.

>> KAUFFMANN: They look for roadkills, they look for garbage, so folks ought to make sure their garbage is not accessible to them that's where they can be a nuisance. They can be pecking on your garbage if it's left out and about.

>> REPORTER: Kauffman says if the food is taken away eventually the birds will leave.

>> KAUFFMANL: But they have a great place to perch, woods right there, so it's really not unusual but they can be a nuisance more than likely they'll move real soon.

>> REPORTER: For Robert Poindexter that moment can't come soon enough.

>> POINDEXTER: Well my concern is that they're sitting on my roof and when they fly and land. I guess when they land they hit the roof really hard and if I'm in my bedroom you can actually hear them landing on the roof.

[jeanne]

I remember when 9 of them flew around Kodak Tower! I wondered if they were making a statement about the CEO.   

[Bird Crazy]

I remember when 9 of them flew around Kodak Tower! I wondered if they were making a statement about the CEO.   

or the fate of the company...

[Donna]

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

By ELIZA WINSTON - Bulletin Staff Writer

The birds are watching Nancy Cox, waiting on her lawn and slowly chewing their way inside her Ridgeway home.

After a flock of almost 200 black vultures moved to Ridgeway this fall, Cox has had a steady stream of 30-35 large, hostile, hungry visitors each day.

“I can’t even sit down to eat at the table,� she said. “The vultures watch me through the window and fly into the doors trying to get into the house.�

Cox has the only home in her neighborhood with rubber roofing. But she may not have it much longer. The vultures are steadily ingesting the rubber, leaving Cox with a leaky roof and shaky nerves.

According to Scott Barras, state director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services Program, black vulture infestations are a common problem in Virginia.

He said the vultures often damage property because they enjoy picking on rubber, although no one is sure why.

They damage roofs by pulling off corners of shingles, and they chew off the rubber seals around exhaust pipes, Barras said. He added that they often pull the rubber blades off windshield wipers while damaging a vehicle’s paint with their large talons.

Cox said there are 30 to 35 vultures on her property each day, and they have been steadily picking away at her roof. Now, she said, part of her roof leaks when it rains, and she is worried about the winter weather.

Renee Hodges, a relative of Cox who helps care for her, said the birds are aggressive. They sit on Cox’s front porch and will not move when approached, she said.

“If I holler and scream at them, they will leave for a little while,� Cox said, “but they come back a few hours later. I lived on a farm for most of my life, and I never met an animal as stubborn as these vultures.�

Barras said black vultures can be hard to get rid of once they move into an area. They are not endangered, but all migratory birds in the United States are protected under federal law. It is illegal to kill them unless a kill permit is obtained through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, he said.

However, even if a kill permit is obtained, only a few of the birds may be killed, Barras said. There are other scare tactics that can be used in combination to try to get the birds to leave the area, but he said they take up to two weeks.

To effectively get the birds to leave, a number of different tools can be used, Barras said. They includes pyrotechnics, a special type of firework for nonlethal dispersal of animals; noisemakers; and paint-ball guns.

However, he said that if none of the methods are lethal, the birds may quickly realize they are not in danger and ignore the harassment. Also, Barras said the harassment techniques would have to be used all day for 10 days to two weeks to be successful, which would require a lot of manpower.

According to Cox, a man came to her property and fired shotgun blanks at the birds for eight days. Unfortunately, she said, they weren’t frightened away.

Cox said a kill permit would take four months to apply for and it would cost $50, which she said she does not have. Cox said she will turn 68 on Dec. 21 and lives on a limited income.

In addition to damaging property, Barras said, the vultures also may attack livestock, such as calves or lambs. Cox said she had two hens in her yard, but she fears one of them was taken by the vultures.

Barras said that black vultures divide their time between roosting and loafing. He explained that roosting is when the whole flock goes to the same trees at night to sleep. During the day, they loaf, or hang out, at a location near their roosting spot, he said.

He said Cox’s property may be where they are choosing to loaf, especially since there is so much rubber for them to nibble on. A few streets over on Vista View Lane, almost 200 birds were seen in the trees around 5 p.m. Thursday. This, Barras said, may be where they roost each night.

Unfortunately, he said, getting the birds to move away will take a lot of manpower to discourage them around the clock for up to two weeks. However, if nothing is done, they could continue to hang around the area for decades, he said.

That is not welcome news for Cox.

“It makes me sick to put up with those things,� she said, “They are so ugly, so scary and so big.�