Vultures take revenge on homes in Polk County, Florida

I shot photos of a vulture perched on a utility pole on the street behind our house in Mandarin. Mother Nature didn't pull any punches designing this opportunistic bird; what they eat is pretty unsightly and so are they. In Polk County, some residents told Local 6 TV vultures are "ripping shingles off rooftops and chewing rubber linings of car doors and windows." Tom Palmer, writing for the newspaper The Ledger, notes the following: "In two recent years, Polk's turkey vulture counts were the highest in the nation." Like all nongame species, these vultures enjoy federal protection. Adding insult to injury, the birds are locally protected as well, by an ordinance passed by the city of Bartow in the 1950s. So you can't scare them off even if you do it humanely.

One of the greatest freelance gigs I ever had was writing for biologists at a state natural resources agency. We spent a lot of time on nuisance wildlife issues, trying to provide helpful information about humane ways to deter wildlife. Vultures are among the most difficult. Ever notice how, if you're cruising down a country road and there's kill on the pavement the vultures will take their own sweet time getting out of your way? I've often wondered if they know how horrified we might be to hit one, not only because we'd have killed something but also because of the mess and damage to the car. Seems to me the city ordinance needs to be tweaked and somebody needs to talk to the feds. Those birds are obviously comfortable doing what they're doing, making it very difficult to dislodge them from their favored habitat. Hope the gators don't get any big ideas--imagine a gator chewing your windows.

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