KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Independence. Share your story idea with Claire.
Drive through Hunters Glen subdivision, and one neighbor has shiny helium balloons tied to his truck. It isn’t for a celebration — it is a warning toturkey vultures. That isn’t the only attempt to get rid of the birds.
For a few weeks now, a pair of turkey vultures has made themselves known in Chris Duarte’s neighborhood and surrounding subdivisions. The birds have been seen on people's homes, cars, and even hot tubs, causing damage.
“They've been, well, defecating all over the truck. They have torn my windshield wipers off. They've taken chunks out of the bed rail on my truck. They're trying to eat the rubber around the top of my window, up on top and the seal up there,” said Duarte as he pointed to the scratches and damage on his vehicle.
The vulture’s acidic droppings can also cause damage. Outside of this urban area, the birds do good as nature’s janitors by ridding areas of diseases through their digestive tract.
However, neighbors wanted the birds gone, so they called the Missouri Department of Conservation for help. MDC and the United States Department of Agriculture came to a neighborhood meeting Monday night to hear from neighbors.
Christopher Cain is an Urban Wildlife Biologist for MDC. His job is to educate people on how to keep wildlife away from urban areas or how to learn to coexist with it. The latter is not an option here in Hunters Glen.
“A couple of [the neighbors] have gracefully volunteered to have what’s called effigies hung near their homes. An effigy, all that is a dead vulture and what happens is, you get that vulture high enough whether it is on someone's house or in a tree, that dead vulture is suspended upside down, and it basically is like a warning, don't come near for other vultures,” said Cain.
Effigies aren’t new to the neighborhood. Chris Duarte bought one for $60, but it isn’t a dead relative like the ones in the trees.
“I think it's attracted them,” said Duarte.
Cain said they would give the effigies a few days to see if they would run the vultures off. If not, it is back to the drawing board to see what other options are available. Cain said if the birds stick around too long and raise their offspring in the neighborhood, it will become a learned spot and they will return next year.
Turkey vultures are federally protected through the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the same as Canadian Geese. That means neighbors cannot capture or kill the birds without a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit. Without a permit, they risk a fine or prison time. On top of that, since the neighborhood is within Blue Springs city limits, Cain said they cannot fire a weapon at the birds or else it goes against city code.
