KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Independence. Share your story idea with Claire.
For almost a month now, a Blue Springs neighborhood has had an ornery pair of turkey vultures causing property damage.
Neighbors have tried airhorns, running out waving their hands, mylar balloons, $60 effigies from Amazon, and now, dead turkey vultures hanging upside down in trees to scare off the pair. All to no avail. So the Missouri Department of Conservation said it is time to take the next step.
The birds are federally protected, so MDC submitted a permit to the USDA following a meeting with neighbors earlier this month. That permit was approved by USDA to kill the birds. Then, MDC said the City of Blue Springs gave it permission to use a weapon in city limits. That was the official good-to-go.
Thursday, MDC set up a game camera and bait to attract the turkey vulture pair. The bait is smelly, rotting deer legs, since the birds are scavengers. The game camera will alert MDC once the vultures land to eat, an employee will come out to the spot and euthanize the birds with a pellet gun.
MDC said the reason for euthanization is that the windshield wiper eating is a trait that the pair could pass on to its offspring and teach to other vultures. Also, because of the ongoing property damage the birds are causing.
"We don't know exactly why the vultures targeted this neighborhood," said MDC Urban Wildlife Biologist Christopher Cain.
One neighbor who has been on guard for the last month is Linda Davenport. She said she has felt like her head is constantly on a swivel to make sure the birds aren't in her backyard, damaging her hot tub, or in the front of her house on her husband's truck.
"Honestly, I know God created all creatures. And there was one morning I was like, Lord, I was so frustrated. I was like, I know you created these for a reason to clean up dead things. Can you please send them back to the country?" said Davenport.
Her sentiments are shared by other neighbors. So while turkey vultures are important to a healthy ecosystem, this pair has likely had its last bite at a truck.
MDC knows which pair to go after because it said one of the birds has a missing primary feather, which is a distinct feature that can even be seen from the sky. The permit only applies to MDC, so neighbors cannot harm the birds.
