Sunday, October 07, 2007
Look past the vulture vomit
Christian Trejbal
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From the RoundTable blog
Vultures are returning to Radford. The much-maligned avian visitors were spotted recently, and their annual winter roosting in the city is about to start.
Soon city officials will hear a flurry of complaints from people put off by the birds. This year, however, the vultures have some defenders too.
Turkey vultures and their rarer cousins, black vultures, have been hanging around the New River Valley for decades or more. They used to roost primarily around the Radford Army Ammunition Plant, but a few years ago, they staked out some choice real estate in the city.
They typically move in by the end of October and depart by the end of March, not that they go far.
Radford University biology professor Bob Sheehy said most vultures probably do not leave the region during the summer. A few migrate north, but the rest stick around. Residents do not notice them as much because the birds spread out.
Then it gets cold, and they settle into communal roosts that on any given day will host up to a few hundred birds.
Those perched birds are not about to pull an Alfred Hitchcock, but they can be annoying. They defecate on property, make noise and, when threatened, projectile vomit. It's little wonder neighbors complain.
The city took the fight to the birds in recent years, deploying noisemakers to scare them away. Such efforts met with mixed success, mostly dispersing the birds around town temporarily.
This year's early spottings have been in the Forest Park area, but Sheehy expects the big roost to be at their usual haunt along Sundell Drive. If the city receives enough complaints, the battle will begin anew.
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The struggle between man and vulture fascinates me. I grew up near Hinckley, Ohio. Buzzards -- turkey vultures -- roost there every summer. People don't complain; they anxiously anticipate the first sighting.
Every year, in the middle of March, the buzzards return to Hinckley. Like San Juan Capistrano's famous swallows, the buzzards signal the start of spring. Their arrival to the shores of Lake Erie sparks a party. Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people show up from near and far for the festivities.
Some Radford residents hope to generate similar tolerance and maybe excitement. Sheehy, Vice Mayor Laurie Buchwald and an informal group of citizens will launch a campaign to boost the vulture's image.
"We're not trying to sell them as perfect birds," Sheehy said, "but they're not as diabolical as people think."
He points out vultures help clean the community by devouring road-kill and other dead animals.
He also dispels some of the myths about them. They do not spread disease any more than other animals, and they will not fly off with a small child or pet.
"They don't attack living animals generally," Sheehy said.
Humans and animals often come into conflict in cities, but with a little understanding, they can live in harmony. These are not hungry cougars and bears wandering the streets of Radford.
Friends of the vultures plan to host a number of events throughout November to present the birds in another light.
Sheehy and other experts will lead tours to the roosts and morning bird-watching sessions. High school students who have been studying the vultures for class will make presentations of their research, and younger students will display artwork featuring the birds.
Meanwhile, the city council will consider a proclamation declaring Vulture Awareness Day. I hesitate to support it because I usually despise such fluff government action, but I cannot help pulling for the vultures.
The month will culminate with a 5-kilometer "Race to the Roost" -- if the Recreation Department agrees to change the name from the traditional "Turkey Trot."
It is easy to revile nature, to attempt to keep it from our communities. It's dirty and sometimes dangerous.
Then a moment of glory occurs. A fawn wanders across the yard, squirrels chase each other around a tree trunk, or a gossamer spider web glistens in the morning dew.
The fawn might eat the garden, the squirrels will bury nuts in the yard, and the spider might bite you. The trick is accepting the nuisance while reveling in the beauty.
Give the vultures a chance. They have their own glory.
"We're not saying wildlife can't be problematic," Vice Mayor Buchwald said, "but we are saying there's a really neat side to these birds."
If this year's events go well, a vulture festival could become an annual event on Radford's calendar. Rather than spurn a perceived nuisance, citizens might embrace it and turn it into something to get excited about, something to have fun with, and something that might just attract some visitors.
Trejbal is an editorial writer for The Roanoke Times based in the New River Valley bureau in Christiansburg.
