The Rockbridge Report is produced
under the supervision of the Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communications
at Washington and Lee University.
540-458-8432
540-458-8845 Fax
rreport@wlu.edu
Lead supervisor:
Prof. Claudette Artwick
Reporting supervisors: Prof. Doug Cumming
Technical supervisor:
By Michael Patterson
Whoosh, Whoosh, WHOOSH! The vulture attacked from above, swooping down from the night sky. The giant bird’s target yelped with fear as it struggled to evade the airborne assaults.
Things weren’t looking good for McMuffin, the black Scottie trying to
avoid becoming the vulture’s meal. That is, until Thomas Goodwin came to
his dog’s rescue. He rushed to McMuffin’s side and managed to scare away
the relentle
ss attacker, which dove within two feet of his own head.
“They sound like one of those huge American flags flapping in the wind,” he said of the vulture’s wings. “It really startled me.”
Goodwin is one of several Lexington residents to file complaints about black vultures over the past two months. The oversized birds are causing problems all over the city.
AP Photo
Cpl. Roger Clark, who oversees animal control issues in Lexington, has received three reports of vultures attacking small dogs, and he said that they have caused significant property damage.
Internet provider LexFirst had to replace its wireless Internet transmitters attached to the water tower on Enfield Road after vultures chewed through the transmitter wires. At the Washington and Lee Law School, vultures ate the rubber insulation around air conditioning ducts on the roof--causing around $500 in damages. They also ate through the vinyl netting that surrounds the W&L baseball field, and poked holes in a new nylon rain tarp for the pitching mound.
“They’ll pick at just about anything if they think it’s food,” said Clark.
Clark says many people are “just plain scared” of the vultures, who can have a wingspan of up to five feet.
“People see these things sitting up in the trees, and they don’t know what [the vultures] are going to do,” he said.
Jon Repair, the Rockbridge County Extension Agent, said that the vultures aren’t at all intimidated by people.
“They’re tough birds,” he said. “They’re all over the county, and they are a big problem, especially on farms.”
Repair said that black vultures will swarm and kill baby calves and lambs, or any livestock that becomes injured or immobilized.
Vultures have become a major nuisance around Rockbridge County, but they do serve at least one important purpose. According to Paul Cabe, a biology professor at W&L who studies ornithology, vultures are carrion feeders.
“They get rid of all those dead animals you see on the side of the road,” he said.
More than 300 vultures took up residence around town after leaving their roost in the pine trees behind the W&L baseball field. W&L worked with representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to scare the birds away using an “LP cannon” in late December. The propane-powered device creates a booming noise that resembles cannon fire. After 10 days of “cannon fire,” the vultures finally left their W&L roost.
They didn’t travel far. Residents have reported large groups of vultures roosting in white pine trees behind Waddell Elementary on Overhill Drive and in the Providence Hill area. They are trying desperately to get rid of them.
Al and Gail Carr live on Overhill Drive, where dozens of vultures roost in the pine trees behind their house. They are trying to oust their new winged neighbors before spring arrives.
“We would like to get it resolved before the weather warms up, because then their droppings are going to stink to high heaven,” said Al Carr.
One Lexington resident, who preferred to remain nameless, tried (and failed) to scare the vultures away with an old BB gun.
“Let’s put it this way, they’re not welcome here,” he said.
Clark hasn’t found a way to get rid of the vultures either. His most recent scare tactic is “Bird Bangers,” small tubes that resemble M-60 firecrackers. He places the tubes into a small gun and fires them 75 feet into the air, where they explode and make a noise “like a 20 gauge shotgun.”
“We haven’t had any success so far, the birds fly away for a night and then come back in the morning,” he said.
Clark doesn’t kill the birds because vultures are a federally protected species. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 makes it illegal to pursue, hunt, capture or kill any migratory bird, which includes vultures.
Anyone who wants to kill a vulture has to apply for a federal permit through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. When Clark applied for the permit last month, the Wildlife Service told him there was a six to eight month waiting list.
When Goodwin found out about the permit delay, he came to the rescue again. He immediately called Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who worked with City Manager Jon Ellestad to convince the Wildlife Service to speed up the permit process. Now Clark expects to get his kill permit by the end of this week.
Wildlife experts from the Department of Agriculture have worked closely with the police department on the vulture problem, and they recommended that Clark kill 10 to 20 percent of the flock. He plans to kill several birds at a time, and he will hang their carcasses in trees where the vultures are roosting. He expects the effigies to send the birds a forbidding message.
“Apparently, they don’t like to see one of their own dead,” said Clark.
Rockbridge County isn’t the only area where vultures are on the most wanted list. Clark said that residents in Waynesboro, Staunton, Christiansburg and Radford are currently battling with the problematic birds.
Tips on keeping vultures off your property
- Hang shiny, flapping objects to frighten them
- Frequently run outside making loud noises, such as clapping or banging pans together
- Set off firecrackers
- On a community level, vultures can be controlled with cannon shots or other noise mechanisms