Vulture Problem

[TallyFish]

When buzzards gather.......move the body!

[MudDucker]

I had that problem two years in a row at my farm. Then the suckers ate the padding off of a couple of boat seats. That was an open declaration. Unlike politicians, I did not run a PC war. I won quickly and decisively. Having said that, if you are in a neighborhood, bottle rockets would probably be more acceptable to your neighbors.

[EddieJoe]

Fireworks are effective. Bottle rockets with a report can be aimed relatively well. Firecrackers work if the birds are fairly close. Vultures are mostly docile and do not like confrontation. If they feel threatened they will move on. They can be shooed fairly easily.

Whatever you do, don't get within close range of them. They have a fright response called "projectile vomiting", and you don't want to be on the receiving end. When I was a biological science grad student we had a department professor that was studying how and why vultures were able to eat carrion loaded with otherwise dangerous levels of bacteria (and not get sick). The birds were kept in cages on the roof, and one of the professor's students had to collect the vulture "stomach contents" (typical grad student assignment) by scaring the birds. Being fairly intelligent, the birds quickly learned to just vomit whenever he showed up so as to avoid the "scaring", which was using a horn, as I recall.

We had a great time telling the story repeatedly over beers (usually to any females within range) about how this guy was so ugly he could make a buzzard vomit just by looking at him. I was one of the guys that liked to tell the story, and it was not popular with the vomit collector, I can tell you.

Anyhow, that airhorn idea is pretty good. You might also call the FWC and ask them - it is a fairly common problem around the state.

BTW, PC or not, it's illegal to harm them physically.

EJ

[Dubble Trubble]

I read about a buzzard problem on another site a week or two ago. I have no answer. But, I don't think a buzzard will eat another buzzard. As far as woodpeckers goes. do you think they looking for carpenter bee larvae. If so, that's another problem. Ask me how I know?

I will never forget the day my dad called me to his house to look at his camper shelter. Looked like someone had shot it with a 50 cal machine gun. Wood chips everywhere! Seems some Pileated Woodpeckers came in and raided the carpenter bees. He had to replace most of the rafters under the shed, as they tore them to hades......

Dubble

[Olebiker]

My boss lives on Lake Monkey Business in Golden Eagle. She shoots them with a paintball gun and it seems to have worked pretty well.

[dolphinatic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOtTS4dHahE][/video]