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*** Migrating Vultures in VA to Be Killed Starting Sunday ***As reported by the AP today (article text can be found at the very end of this message), the U.S. Department of Wildlife Services Division intends to aid the city of Staunton, Virginia in its efforts to drive migrating black and turkey vultures away from its community. No one claims that the birds are hurting anyone. They are simply annoying to the property owners in the area. Our federal government agents intend not only to use pyrotecnic noises to make the environment inhospitable but also to kill several members ofthese protected species and then hang the dead birds by their legs from trees in order to scare the others away.Of course, vultures play a vital role in the ecosystem by effectively recycling dead animals, which is why they are protected in the US and many other nations. These birds pose no threat to humans or companion animals.Turkey vultures eat only vegetation and animals which are already dead; thisis also the primary diet of black vultures, although these birds will also occassionally prey on slow-moving wild animals, thereby contributing to the process of natural selection. Neither species is in any way aggressive. Indeed, when attacked, they use projectile vomiting rather than violence to defend themselves. These extremely playful and intelligent birds are sacred to many people due to their key role in the natural cycle of life. As someone who lives in an area where large numbers of turkey vultures overwinter, I can testify that these large and pacific birds cause no one any harm. Indeed, I feel honored to have the opportunity to observe thesevery sociable birds as they stand sunning themselves together in the fields or play flying games in the sky. It pains me to think that even one will be sacrificed upon the altar of human ignorance and I hope that my fellow environmentalists and animal liberation activists will take a few moments to try to stop this particular slaughter. Here is what you can do:(1) If you live anywhere in the US, you can call or fax the US Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services Division and protest the use of federal workers to kill members of a protected species without just cause. The Deputy Administrator exercises national program oversight: William H. Clay- Deputy Administrator Phone (202) 720-2054 Fax (202) 690 0053 The Eastern Regional Office directs field operations: Rick Owens (Acting)- Eastern Regional Director Phone - (919) 716-5632Fax - (919) 716-5659 Here are some points you might wish to make:* These birds are not hurting anyone;* These birds are protected for a reason;* Persons killing these birds should be prosecuted, rather than abetted, bythe federal government;* This has nothing to do with agriculture -- the local citizens involved are annoyed suburbanites rather than farmers fearing harm from wildlife -- hence the US Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services Division has no mandate to be involved and should not be spending scarce labor or funds for this effort;* If the Wildlife Services Division should be involved in any way, it should be to help the local citizens figure out how to deal with their perceived problems without killing any members of a protected species.(2) If you live in Virginia, you can call or fax the state director ofwildlife services, Martin Lowney, and make the same points. Martin Lowney Virginia Wildlife Services State Director Phone: 804-739-7739 FAX: 804-739-7738 Please note that Lowney himself says that the problem the citizens have with the vultures is largely symbolic.(3) If you either live in the region of Staunton or have personal experience dealing with turkey vultures in a humane manner, you can write a letter tothe local newspaper, urging the citizens and community leaders to take amore sensible and humane approach to the perceived problems associated with these migratory birds. Here is the web address you can use to write a letter to the editor of thelocal newspaper, the Staunton News Leader: http://www.newsleader.com/customerservice/contact.html

Virginia City Trying to Scare Away Vultures Associated Press 12/03/01 Staunton, Va. --

The city is battling about 450 turkey and black vultures that have congregated on tree branches, staining rooftops, cars, and swing sets, and fouling the air.Assistant City Manager Jim Halasz appreciates the birds for their role inclearing animal carcasses, but not when they congregate in residential neighborhoods."They're a useful bird, but when they're in your back yard, it's a real detriment to you enjoying your property," Halasz said. Staunton has contracted with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services Division to disperse the roosts beginning Sunday.Black vultures weigh about 4 pounds with a five-foot wingspan. They prey onslow-moving game. The slightly larger turkey vultures weigh about 5 poundswith six-foot wingspans. They are scavengers that feed only on dead animals.The buzzards migrate from the cooler West Virginia highlands to Staunton.They are attracted by the tall cedar and pine trees in the city's northern neighborhoods, said Tom Sliwoski, the city's director of public works."They roost here at night and go back to the highlands during the day,"Sliwoski said. "We're trying to deter them from making a home here for the winter."Virginia is third in the nation for buzzard population, behind Texas and Florida, said Martin Lowney, the state director of Wildlife Services.Usually concentrated in northern Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley, Southwest, and Southside, they pose a menace when they roost in residential neighborhoods, Lowney said."Part of the problem is just the symbolism of having 200 vultures in yourback yard and flying over your house," said Lowney, a certified wildlife biologist.The bird's droppings aren't a health risk. However, the odors are anuisance, and the stains can cause a good deal of property damage, Lowney said. "They're pretty big birds and produce a lot of feces" he said. "When they get scared while their fighting with each other, they throw up. That just adds to the odor."Starting every day at sunset, Wildlife Services will try dispersing the roosts with pyrotechnic noises that resemble M-80 firecrackers and bottlerockets. Workers will also kill a select number of the birds, which are protected under the Migratory Bird Act. Federal officials also will hang dead vultures by their feet in effigy, Sliwoski said.Lowney said a recent study showed that buzzards are one of the few birds that can't stand the sight of their own dead."By using the dead vultures as a repellent, we can more easily disperse avulture roost because they don't want to sit in trees with their dead comrades," he said. Workers need permission from landowners to hang the birds on private property, he added. Staunton public works notified residents about the anti-buzzard project on Friday. It is expected to last about a week and cost about $5,000, he said.

Wendy Perrone of Three Rivers Avian Center contacted the Dept. of Agriculture's Wildlife Division in Washington DC to ask them to verify this story. Here is the result of her effort.

I promised that I would get back to you about whether or not this e-mail is true. I am sad to say that it is very true and accurate. This morning my phone calls were returned by Chad Fox of the USDA in Virginia (phone # 540-381-7387) who confirmed that they were actively working as described in the e-mail to disperse the roost of Black and Turkey vultures in Staunton. The roost consists of mostly Turkey Vultures, about 450 individuals, and they have killed just under 40 birds to hang in the trees. According to Mr. Fox the mission is just about completed. He offered to talk to anyone who had questions about the program, just give him a call. Needless to say, I had a lot of questions for him:

Some vultures are reluctant to leave just because of the noise and have to be shown that it is dangerous to stay.

2) Have you tried using already dead vulture bodies (say, from rehabbers like Three Rivers) instead of shooting? There was a bit of a hedge on this...after some sentences, he mentioned that this had been tried elsewhere and wasn't as effective. I wonder from his response how well it was tried.

3) Why is this necessary at all? His response was that the local folk found them obnoxious and wanted the roost gone. He listed off some of the problems:

black vultures tend to pick at naugahide, rubber roofs and some shingles causingextensive damage, black vultures tend to kill newborn calves and lambs for food, turkey vultures stink, etc.

4) If odor is a problem, why use dead vulture carcasses at all? They stink too. Why not use puppets or mounted (stuffed) carcasses?

Well the smell goes away after a few days and these vultures need to see the actual death of a comrade in order to understand the danger of sticking around. (The irony of death stink vs. feces, etc stink completely eluded him.)

Personally, I have some real problems with the USDA decision in this case - as you may expect. Being a wildlife rehabilitator specializing in raptors and other birds since 1990, it really gets my goat to have this sort of thing happening within the natural home range of the migrating vultures from West Virginia. I talked with Mr. Fox for about 15 minutes on the whole issue, and he kept saying stuff like "I don't know if you've ever handled ...", "I don't know if you've ever had one try to vomit on you...", "I don't know if you've seen roosting vulture behavior..." and he barely seemed to grasp that I WORK WITH THESE GUYS! I DO KNOW! He believes that black vultures are "smarter" (his word) ;than turkey vultures because they scare away from the roosting area sooner than a turkey vulture. I pointed out that BOTH species are extremely smart, and in our experience turkey vultures are more stubborn and that I believe that the reason turkey vultures won't leave easily is because they are very territory-minded. The roost is their home and they don't want to leave it. If we use his definition of "smart", I reckon the Stauntonites are pretty dumb too. They won't leave their roost either. And the USDA is even dumber for aiding and abetting. I could go on, but I'd take up pages.

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