Vultures will hang out on tank
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on March 27, 2015 1:46 PM
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A worker holds a stuffed vulture that will be placed atop a city water tower to discourage other birds from roosting there.
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Vultures line the Harris Street water tower.
There's something lurking on the Harris Street water tower downtown -- turkey vultures, to be specific.
But not to worry. They aren't alive -- not anymore, at least.
Goldsboro Fire Department placed several taxidermied turkey vultures on the water tower near the end of last week to curb a turkey vulture problem.
Public Utilities Director Karen Brashear said turkey vultures had been causing extensive damage to the water tower, defecating on the paint and causing corrosion.
The problem was first noted about a month ago, Ms. Brashear said, and permits were obtained by the fire department to erect the taxidermied vultures.
But they aren't here to stay for long -- the taxidermied turkey vultures will be removed within two to four weeks, depending on how quickly the live turkey vultures become used to the taxidermied vultures' presence on the water tower.
"Birds habituate to seeing (the taxidermied vultures) rather quickly, and they figure out they aren't real, so in two to four weeks we'll take them down," Ms. Brashear said. "If the problem continues, we'll put them back up in the future."
For all intents and purposes, Ms. Brashear said, the taxidermied vultures seem to be working.
"I checked with the bird control officers on (Seymour Johnson Air Force) base and they said it's working so far," Ms. Brashear said. "They have to ensure no large birds get in the way of their flight paths, and they said they haven't had problems since the birds were put up."
Turkey vultures were only a concern due to the property damage they were causing, as they do not prey on living creatures, Ms. Brashear said.
"They only eat dead animals," she said. "What they were doing was eating at the landfill and then looking for somewhere to sit that had a good view, so they began perching on the water tower."