ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 3, 1997 TAG: 9703030131
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LEESBURG
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Town Council has approved a plan to get rid of a growing horde of messy, smelly vultures.
Council members last week approved the plan to trap and move the estimated 200 turkey vultures, which have been wintering in the tall evergreen trees just outside of downtown Leesburg for the past six years.
But the trapping won't begin until later this year because the birds are flocking north to their nesting sites.
``We are going to remove the vultures from Leesburg, but not until next fall,'' Deputy Town Manager Gary Huff said. ``That is more humane than shooting them.''
The birds will be moved at least 200 miles away to a still-undetermined area, said Martin Lowney, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Damage Control program in Virginia.
Homeowners are hoping to be rid of the smelly droppings on their patios and the road-kill leftovers that have become a bigger problem as the number of vultures has risen.
The birds are becoming an increasing nuisance in some parts of Virginia as development pushes into former woodlands, said Keith Cline, wildlife biologist for the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
``People are moving out into where the birds have their roosts, so you have conflicts,'' Cline said.
The besieged town has been using air horns, balloons, firecrackers and even light cannons in their unsuccessful battle against the vultures. Shooting the birds is not an option, because they are federally protected.
The scavengers play a key role in the food chain, feeding on animal carcasses that otherwise would rot. The thick forests and ample road kill around Leesburg apparently make the town an ideal winter home.
The flock starts roosting in Leesburg in late August and early September, and reaches its maximum number in December.
Trapping the vultures will be relatively easy, Lowney said. A carcass-baited trap measuring 10 to 20 feet by 6 feet high can snare up to 100 birds at a time.
``They like to eat dead things,'' he said. ``They are quite naive and can easily be enticed into walking into traps.''
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