Birds invading Kentucky

[Crazy4Blue]

Anyone here experiencing this?
http://news.yahoo.com/bird-invasion-brings-real-life-horror-kentucky-city-205852369.html

[blueboss]

IIRC a couple of years ago an area around either Prospect or Lagrange had the same problem and they blasted noise at them with air cannons.

[CitizenBBN]

Lexington had it for 2-3 years really bad in downtown. it's been many years now but it was horrid. The tree huggers who lived out in the suburbs got all upset at anyone killing the things so we had a terrible time dealing with them. The sheriff's office set off the noise things , we tried to get hawks to nest, about everything but going out with shotguns and ending the thing. the feds also have an approved spray you put on the trees and wires that causes their feathers to fall out or some such and they freeze to death. Cruel as heck, far more than just shooting them. You have to pick your spots to shoot in a downtown, but no one is going to be killed by falling birdshot.

it was a disaster downtown. It actually smelled from all the bird crap, and was an obvious health risk. We had to hose off the office parking lot.

We still get some in the winter but nothing like those couple of winters.

[blueboss]

^^ Now that you mention it they had them for a while in Downtown Louisville, but then there a lot of dirty birds in Louisville so it slipped my mind.

[badrose]

There's a town about an hour northwest of Charlotte that has a bunch of vultures hanging around. Shelby, I think.

[CitizenBBN]

There's a town about an hour northwest of Charlotte that has a bunch of vultures hanging around. Shelby, I think.

You sure you don't mean Durham?

[badrose]

You sure you don't mean Durham?

All hummingbirds there.

[dan_bgblue]

the feds also have an approved spray you put on the trees and wires that causes their feathers to fall out or some such and they freeze to death.

Tergitol. It is a non ionic surfactant and is actually sprayed on roosting birds via high volume sprayers or aircraft. Timing is critical for the application to be effective. Spray first, then a little shower of rain will wash off the protective oils from the bird feathers, then the temperature drops below freezing and bye bye birdie.

[CitizenBBN]

Tergitol. It is a non ionic surfactant and is actually sprayed on roosting birds via high volume sprayers or aircraft. Timing is critical for the application to be effective. Spray first, then a little shower of rain will wash off the protective oils from the bird feathers, then the temperature drops below freezing and bye bye birdie.

Seems birdshot from a 12ga is far less cruel and less costly.

[dan_bgblue]

Back in the 60's and early 70's when blackbirds, starlings and grackles were a huge problem in southern KY there was a lot of debate on the most humane way to get rid of them. Because of the threat to humans from histoplasmosis, it was a situation of them against us. The roosting spots had bird numbers ranging toward a million or so of the winged crappers. Bird poop was a solid mat on the ground and measured inches thick.

No way that shotguns and bird shot would have solved the problem. When the spraying was successful, bulldozers were used to level the roosting areas, and dead birds and poop alike were dozed over and later burned when the trees had dried enough to burn.

I do not know how bad the current situation is, but back in the day, I saw flocks of them in flight that were hundreds of yards wide and spanned from one horizon to the other in the direction of flight.

[CitizenBBN]

Back in the 60's and early 70's when blackbirds, starlings and grackles were a huge problem in southern KY there was a lot of debate on the most humane way to get rid of them. Because of the threat to humans from histoplasmosis, it was a situation of them against us. The roosting spots had bird numbers ranging toward a million or so of the winged crappers. Bird poop was a solid mat on the ground and measured inches thick.

No way that shotguns and bird shot would have solved the problem. When the spraying was successful, bulldozers were used to level the roosting areas, and dead birds and poop alike were dozed over and later burned when the trees had dried enough to burn.

I do not know how bad the current situation is, but back in the day, I saw flocks of them in flight that were hundreds of yards wide and spanned from one horizon to the other in the direction of flight.

You won't catch me going all tree hugger on blackbirds. They're a nuisance and in that quantity a serious health risk, and their populations grow like that mostly due to Man's impact on the environment. we get rid of predators and ramp up the food supply tremendously. it's just good environmental management to thin the population. In that volume you have to spray or something. Lexington could have done a lot of good with some 12 gauges, esp. since they didn't want to spray.

[BarristerCat]

Seems birdshot from a 12ga is far less cruel and less costly.

And much more fun.

[badrose]

Back in the 60's and early 70's when blackbirds, starlings and grackles were a huge problem in southern KY there was a lot of debate on the most humane way to get rid of them. Because of the threat to humans from histoplasmosis, it was a situation of them against us. The roosting spots had bird numbers ranging toward a million or so of the winged crappers. Bird poop was a solid mat on the ground and measured inches thick.

No way that shotguns and bird shot would have solved the problem. When the spraying was successful, bulldozers were used to level the roosting areas, and dead birds and poop alike were dozed over and later burned when the trees had dried enough to burn.

I do not know how bad the current situation is, but back in the day, I saw flocks of them in flight that were hundreds of yards wide and spanned from one horizon to the other in the direction of flight.

Yep, I saw them too each fall. You described it perfectly. As a kid I thought it was an awesome sight.

[elicat]

I've had both vultures and starlings invade my little piece of the countryside last year. Shooting in their direction actually worked quite well, but not from killing so many. I don't know that I killed any. I think it just became too much of a nuisance to them and they found somewhere else to be.