Don't Shoot! It's Against the Law.

Not quite a week ago, Farmboy took a picture of vultures drying their wings along our southern fence line. One was perched every 30' or so, atop each of the cedar fence posts. It had been raining, and raining, and raining, and I'm sure they were as miserable as the rest of the fauna living outdoors.

Today, as I returned from making a trip to town to purchase some more mortar for our tiling project, I took another picture of the vultures perched atop an old barn across the creek from our property.

 

 

I decided I would do my blog post today about the picture.  In preparation, I did a bit of Internet research.  These are not the vultures we typically see flying around here — the turkey vulture, recognizable by their prominent red head. These guys are black vultures. The black vulture is smaller than the turkey vulture, have shorter wings, with white tips underneath their wings while in flight.

 

"Black vultures have been reported killing and injuring piglets, lambs, and more rarely, calves and cows giving birth. Ewes during lambing are particularly vulnerable to harassment or predation by black vultures. If you suspect vulture predation on your herd, signs to look for include missing eyes, tongue, or anus. These three body parts are usually the first eaten by black vultures. Because of a different beak type for turkey vultures, they are usually only able to feed on carcass’ with exposed surfaces, such as road-killed animals found along the highway.

If you see black vultures on or near your farm, keep a close eye on where they are roosting, especially at dawn and dusk. To discourage these birds, knowing their habits and roost sites is very helpful. Here’s a few things to keep in mind:

* Understanding the biology of the animal/bird causing problems.

* Removing or properly composting any carcasses on the farm.

* Habitat modification- vultures prefer large dead trees for roosting. Removing these snags where possible means vultures must fly longer distances to reach the area having problems.

* Exclusion- use of netting, or porcupine wire in roosting areas to discourage use by vultures.

*Harassment- use of pyrotechnics in conjunction with other techniques is beneficial. (County SWCD’s may have these devices for use by county residents). [In Kentucky, it would be called the Soil and Water Conservation Commission, although, I did not call them and ask them to verify this.]

* One technique that has proven to be nearly 99% effective in repelling black vultures is hanging an “effigy” or dead vulture from a tree near roosting sites. However, a landowner must have a permit from USDA’s Wildlife Services to take a life vulture. A good, safe, legal substitute is a single Tyvek goose decoy from Cabela’s, (800-237- 4444), a mail order outfitting store. The price is less than $30.00.

 

What if these techniques are used and vultures are still a problem? All vultures are federally protected, so shooting them may be done only with Federal approval. At this point USDA Wildlife Services can assist the landowner in obtaining a permit to remove the vultures. These permits are only issued through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Minneapolis. Because this process can take 2 to 4 weeks to complete, contact Wildlife Services at 614-892-2514 as soon as vulture problems occur."¹

 

I don't want anything to happen to my Babydoll girls,

or my Babydoll boys,

and we'll be lambing at the Bergamascos' Babydoll Brigade Farm in about three months; I think we have some vulture eviction to take care of. Anyone have a good decoy they need to get rid of?

 

 

¹ http://sheep.osu.edu/2008/06/20/black-vulture-damage/