Lots of birdshot needed in Kentucky

[k0ua]

We have a population of buzzards here around table rock lake, Near Branson Mo. that stay all winter. Then come to think of it, we have some old buzzards from Hollywood, and Nashville too.

James K0UA

 

[jerrybob]

20,000 crows? I can only imagine what that must sound like.

Very similar to one of my wife's bunko parties I am sure!:laughing:

 

[dmccarty]

...

Speaking of flocks of birds... I got the shock of my life when I walked over to my garage yesterday. There must have been about 30 turkey vultures in the trees behind my house. Apparently I must have startled them because they all scattered at virtually the same time and without warning, scaring the crap out of me in the process. They're huge birds that are quite common here, but I've never seen them in such large numbers before. If only I could have got a few pictures, it was an impressive sight.

Turkey Vulture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There is an pool club in our town that is very old and small. It is the only pool in the county that I know of that is not part of a development. I would guess the pool has to be at least 40 years old, and when it was built, there was nothing around the site. As a result, the pool has a bit of empty land, but some development has gone on around it. The land owned by the pool has been cleared with the exception of a few pine trees. There are some pretty big pine trees, some of which are dead, on the neighboring land.

The problem has been the vultures. They would hang out in the dead pine trees and the open land around the pool made it that much easier for them to fly in and out. The bigger problem was the vultures liked to use the pool itself. :shocked: The vultures would scat over everything, the sun tan oil tasted good to them so they would eat the fabric/plastic of the chairs and lounge around the pool. The lifeguards would spend hours each day cleaning up the pool before it could be used. The danged birds were eating wind shield wiper blades off of cars parked near by and were even eating the caulk off the building windows. :shocked:

The danged birds are Federally protected so you could not just go shoot the %^&*() pests....

Eventually, permits were issued and a few birds were killed...

Then the dead birds were hung from trees and light poles around the pool...

:laughing::laughing::laughing:

This stopped the vultures from visiting the pool though they still hang out in the dead pine trees. Not sure if the vultures are still eating window caulk and windshield wipers.

I had forgot about the hanging vultures when I first visited the pool. If the wind was just right, you could get a certain, strange whiff that made me look up, and at which point I saw what was left of a dead vulture. :shocked: Kinda odd and ironic at the same time. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

I saw this bird near our house one day last summer.



Later,
Dan

 

[MossRoad]

20,000 crows? I can only imagine what that must sound like.

It sounds something like this...

CAW!!! CAW!!! CAW!!!

 

[MossRoad]

Or maybe the Dixie Chicks... I can't decide.

 

[CNC Dan]

Speaking of flocks of birds... I got the shock of my life when I walked over to my garage yesterday. There must have been about 30 turkey vultures in the trees behind my house.

Do you have natural gas or propane in the neighborhood? There may be a small leak. Or could just be a dead animal someware.

 

[MasseyWV]

Do you have natural gas or propane in the neighborhood? There may be a small leak. Or could just be a dead animal someware.

I see Turkey Vultures flying overhead or roosting in the trees year-round, just never in such large numbers before, and believe they feed on rabbits or other critters from the nearby woods.

One even tried to snatch one of my cats a year or so ago, that is until the cat... objected. Obviously, I was concerned for my cat, but seeing a 10 pound cat and that huge Turkey Vulture going round and round in my front yard had to have been one of the strangest sights I've ever seen. Thankfully, the cat won, or maybe the vulture just gave up. I'm still not sure on that one since it took a minute for me to recover from what I had just seen.

 

[MossRoad]

I'll bet it was more like the cat was trying to steal something from the vulture. :thumbsup:

 

[daugen]

All carrion eaters serve a purpose, but this muck dweller doesn't pack out what it brings in...
that ought to make a nice test for your favorite car wax, turkey vulture poop.

The Turkey Vulture is sometimes accused of carrying anthrax or hog cholera, both livestock diseases, on its feet or bill by cattle ranchers and is therefore occasionally perceived as a threat.[50] However, the virus that causes hog cholera is destroyed when it passes through the Turkey Vulture's digestive tract.[28] This species also may be perceived as a threat by farmers due to the similar Black Vulture's tendency to attack and kill newborn cattle. The Turkey Vulture does not kill live animals but will mix with flocks of Black Vultures and will scavenge what they leave behind. Nonetheless, its appearance at a location where a calf has been killed gives the incorrect impression that the Turkey Vulture represents a danger to calves.[51] The droppings produced by Turkey Vultures and other vultures can harm or kill trees and other vegetation.[52] The Turkey Vulture can be held in captivity, though the Migratory Bird Treaty Act prevents this in the case of uninjured animals or animals capable of returning to the wild.[53] In captivity, it can be fed fresh meat, and younger birds will gorge themselves if given the opportunity.[28]

The Turkey Vulture species receives special legal protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 in the United States,[8] by the Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds in Canada,[54] and by the Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds and Game Mammals in Mexico.[54] In the USA it is illegal to take, kill, or possess Turkey Vultures, and violation of the law is punishable by a fine of up to $15,000 and imprisonment of up to six months.[53] It is listed as a species of Least Concern by the IUCN Red List. Populations appear to remain stable, and it has not reached the threshold of inclusion as a threatened species, which requires a decline of more than 30 percent in ten years or three generations.[1]