In a barren tree, several black vultures sit perched on its leafless branches. Meanwhile, hundreds of others hover above the neighborhood while making grunting sounds.
This is the view Derry Township residents have been seeing on a daily basis this summer.
“It started off small, like a dozen, and then a few hundred. Now, it’s over a thousand and it’s really unmanageable at this point.”
Tracy Brown, who has lived in the township for over 20 years, said the birds are “destructive by nature,” causing damage to homes and property in the neighborhood, as well as at Hersheypark’s ZooAmerica, where they were a nuisance last year.
“I’ve had neighbors reach out to me saying that they have chimney and roof damage from the vultures. At the zoo the birds dive in and peck on the bears, bombing and attacking them,” she said.
The mother of three added that her youngest child gets nervous being outside and seeing the vultures, as the family also own pets.
Black vultures, which can have wingspans up to 5 feet, are protected under federal laws. It’s illegal in the U.S. to trap or kill the birds without a permit, and violators can face a fine of up to $15,000 and six months in prison.
The birds have been bedeviling the township, especially in and around ZooAmerica, for several years now. A Facebook search done last year showed both the zoo and its visitors have been posting about the birds since 2013.
At a recent Derry Township supervisors meeting, Brown brought up the problem and said she was told to contact state congressmen. She said she feels hopeless, having only received such responses as, “we feel for you.”
She said she discovered other area municipalities had contacted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to try to eliminate the vultures and wants Derry Township to hop on board.
“Other townships locally have done cooperative service agreements where they contract with the USDA to address the matter,” she said. “So far, Derry Township does not believe that they are a stakeholder [in] protecting this neighborhood.”
Township Supervisor Chris Christman said he is equally frustrated about black vultures being present in the community, and that they have tried many measures to solve the problem.
“We are equally limited to what we can do to try to move these birds along in a safe manner. We are relying on the USDA to provide guidance to the safest way to treat these migratory birds and at the same time try to provide relief for the residents.”
Tracy Brown snapped this photo of the vultures on homes in her neighborhood.
Tony Roland, USDA Supervisor with Wildlife Services, says the department receives a great number of calls each year concerning black vultures throughout the eastern and central part of the state. Roland introduced a new procedure the service is currently pursuing in order to track these soaring birds.
“We are working there locally and conducting research with capturing and tagging black vultures. Folks see the tags and they report that to USDA and then the information gets put into a database. With that we get to see where birds are spotted,” he said.
The USDA has tagged between 75 and 100 black vultures since the Wildlife Service started investigating in October 2020. They’re currently identifying birds from the area by applying green “palatial tags” located on the birds’ wings, allowing the company to read the tag while the animals are in flight.
“We are using this method to see how far the birds are moving from the Hershey area,” Roland said. “We want to know if they’re sticking around or migrating south. Without tags you see birds but you don’t know if they’re the same birds day in and day out in the community.”
Roland said as of now Wildlife Service does not have the total results of birds that have returned to Derry Township. However, the USDA has received reports of birds being located throughout the Derry Twp. area, in neighboring states, and even Canada.
On Monday, Oct. 4, township officials and the USDA will be in local neighborhoods evaluating reported concerns and providing recommendations to residents.
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October 03, 2021 at 05:33PM
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Black vultures are back to bedevil Derry Township residents: ‘It’s really unmanageable’ - PennLive
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