People in Greenville, TX are up in arms, reports the Herald Banner. They don’t mind their cell tower neighbors, but the vultures that make their nests there have become unwelcome visitors.
The vulture population has soared, so to speak, over the last decade and residents have had enough.
The Texas Wildlife Service met with members of the Greenville Animal Control to devise measures to make the roosts less hospitable.
Commenting on the overabundance of winged scavengers, Daniel Ray, Greenville City Attorney stated, “I, frankly, didn’t believe it was as bad as it was until I went out there. At the top of the tower, there were about 100 birds up there, but … there were about 150 birds on top of about a 15 by 15 foot building [located under the tower],” he said, “I got up about five feet away from this building, right next to the fence, and they didn’t leave until I screamed, and I screamed just to see if the noise scared the birds.”
After researching the legalities of the situation, City Manager Summer Spurlock called in the Texas Wildlife Service to train local citizens on the use of non-lethal pyrotechnics designed to discourage the birds. The Herald Banner notes that the vultures typically congregate around the cell towers at dusk, and will now be met with loud noises.
To reinforce the ruckus created by the bird posse, USDA Wildlife representative Adam Henry suggested lopping off inviting tree branches. “Also, if people who live there start yelling and screaming at the birds to harass them, that will reinforce what we’re doing with the pyrotechnics to get them to move away,” he said.
April 26, 2019
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