Oh gross me out! 200 vultures have taken up residence in a Leesburg neighborhood. Nothing could be uglier or nastier than a vulture. I am assuming these are what we call “buzzrds.”
Washingtonpost.com: (Tom Jackman)
Monday was Day One of the effort by Leesburg, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to remove the committee of vultures who have made the Mayfair neighborhood near Edwards Ferry Road their winter home. As always on this job, it was fun and educational — a group of vultures is known as a committee, you know — and from the outset, it seemed to work. Except that the promised, much anticipated “pyrotechnics and lasers” weren’t really needed much.
To recap, the 200 or so vultures need to go because their excrement is extremely acidic and they can destroy both trees and important stuff on houses and cars. They are a protected species, so you can’t shoot them.
What amazes me is that buzzards are a protected species. Why? How stupid is that? Who do we write to about this? The vulture is no more endangered than kittens.
The first trick to remove the vultures was to hang an effigy–not a toy vulture but a real dead vulture, upside down from a rope in “their” tree. Apparently vultures do not like effigies, considering their personal eating habits.
Be sure to read the rest of Tom Jackman’ article to see the outcome. Meanwhile, why are we protecting vultures? They are nasty and ugly. They serve on purpose. They clean up road kill. They are too lazy to kill their own food. Ewwwwwwww!
Keep your fingers crossed that the “committee” doesn’t decide to reside in the fun place to live, work and play.
Paintballs?
Catapults launching Maine Coon cats?
Actually, the world is a better, less smelly and less deceased place because of vultures. Trust me on this one.
There are other carrion eaters than just buzzards.
The very idea that you can’t off buzzards! Too much govt. interference!!!
I hate to agree about the value of such a gross bird, but if they didn’t eat the road kill and other various dead animals, our environment would be disgusting, miles high of rotting flesh. Having said that, my mom’s cat was attacked by a vulture and people should be able to take reasonable steps to protect their pets and property.
Crows and gulls eat carrion also. So do hawks and eagles. Let’s let them live and kill all the buzzards.
I have never heard of one attacking something. UFB
BSinVA and Elena are both correct. Vultures play a very important role in cleaning up roadkill and other carrion. Were it not for them, carcasses would fester, drawing other pests, which spread diseases. One of the reasons for the perceived increase in these large, ugly birds, is all of the developement. The deer population has exploded of late, cauasing an increase in roadkill AND deaths by desease and lack of food. When this happens, you are going to see an increase in vulture and coyote populations.
Let’s import eagles and hawks to do the work.
Why are buzzards a protected species? Surely they aren’t going into extinction?
Actually, I know that buzzards do the work no one else wants to do. I have long accepted their nasty presence, turning my head and not making eye contact.
However, I was dumbfounded to learn they were a protected species.
You ought to be able to remove them from roosting in bad places. Next I am going to learn that starlings are a protected species. Those nasty things aren’t even indigenous to the USA.
Pen some hungry cats at the bases of the trees.
When life hands you buzzards, start making pancakes.
http://hinckleytwp.org/content/buzzard-day-history
@Cargosquid
Careful, Elena’s kitty has a bad habit of escaping to the roof, two words, Buzzard Bait.
Too funny. Dewy will claw and hiss if he is used as the effigy.
@Mom
Need a bigger cat. Maine Coon. Savannah Cat. Cougar?
Nah, the smaller cats make better oven mitts.
Hey, Dewey is a kick butt hunter, however, he isn’t very brave outside. He prefers the indoor mouse hunting. It was my mom’s fluffy orange tabby that lost the fight with the vulture 😉
Did the vulture carry the cat away? Was it still alive? Never heard of a vulture doing that. Are you sure it wasn’t a hawk or an eagle? Both will carry off small live animals. I have seen hawks take rabbits…fairly big hawks, fairly big rabbits. How did the chicken hawk get its name? No fair cheating.
This seems to be a case for some clandestine pest removal.
HOW, I don’t know. Can’t shoot firearms, even silenced ones, since you can’t control the area beyond the target…. Same with arrows.
DRONES! RC helos. Harrass them with RC quad copters until they le…I better shut up. This is starting to look like a business idea. I better learn to fly one of those things.
@Cargosquid
Alka Seltzer tablets wrapped in bacon should do the trick.
@Mom
Lol! Creative chemistry!
@Mom
Oooooo….sneaky.