Greeneville fighting vultures with vultures

Neighborhood's Vulture Problem May Be Solved

Sun Photo by Phil Gentry 

A dead vulture hangs from a tree off Sunset Street. Police recently killed several vultures in the neighborhood, after obtaining a permit to do so. The bodies of several of the dead vultures were then suspended in the trees in an effort, apparently successful so far, to prevent more vultures from roosting in the Sunset Street woods. The vultures have been considered a serious health problem in the neighborhood for years.

Source: The Greeneville Sun

KNOXNEWS.com:

GREENEVILLE — After years of complaints about flocks of vultures vomiting onto playgrounds and houses, Greeneville is trying a novel approach to scare off the birds.

The Greeneville Sun reports the city is hanging dead vultures from trees.

Police Chief Terry Cannon said vultures roosting on playground equipment in the Sunset Street area have made it unusable because they vomit the remains of dead animals they have eaten onto the equipment.

Cannon said artificial noisemakers and blank gunshots failed to scare the birds away, so police applied for a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to kill some of them.

Public works crews then hung some of the dead birds from the trees at the suggestion of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee.

It may be a strange sight, but Cannon says it has worked — a least so far.

Comments

[Brian Patrick O'Malley]

I wonder if driving away the vultures could invite a greater health risk. After all, the vultures themselves are cleaners. I did not know, however, about the frequency of their vomiting, complained about by Greenville residents.