Vultures picking rubber from cars

upi ^ | April 6, 2010

[JoeProBono]

MIAMI, - Officials and workers at Florida's Everglades National Park said vultures have been ripping rubber parts from vehicles parked in the area.

Linda Hyde, who works at the Anhinga Trail gift shop in the park, said the vultures have been picking windshield wipers, door seals, sunroof seals and other parts made from rubber and vinyl from vehicles at the park, The Miami Herald reported Tuesday.

She said the park's attempts at keeping the vultures away from the cars, including effigies and hanging the carcasses of dead vultures, have not dissuaded the birds from pecking on cars.

Dave Hallac, chief of biological resources for Everglades National Park, said officials are planning to bring in experts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Wildlife Research Center in Gainesville, Fla.

"This puts us in kind of a tough situation. These birds are native and they're protected," Hallac said. "We're looking for ways, without injuring the birds, because that's not what we do here, to keep them from damaging vehicles."

Michael Avery, a USDA Wildlife Services biologist, said the vultures do not seem to be ingesting very much of the rubber.

"It's like they are trying stuff," he said. "It may be more prevalent in younger birds as they are learning to grasp things."

[JoeProBono]

[b4its2late]

Shoot them!

[SonOfDarkSkies]

Vultures? Or Prawns?

[HighlyOpinionated]

Vultures are the cleanest birds. After they poke their heads into carcasses and eat their fill, they go off and wash their heads. They have no feathers for that reason.

[HighlyOpinionated]

CORRECTION, no feathers ON THEIR HEADS.

[JoeProBono]

[mgstarr]

Please no more pics of Helen Thomas....

Oh wait!

[Man50D]

I thought this was another socialist/marxist cash for clunkers program after reading the title.

[green pastures]

Especially vulnerable are the Ford Talon, the Pontiac Phoenix, and the Hummer.

Oh, I almost forgot. The Falcon, too.

[green pastures]

LOL...

[doorgunner69]

Hanging effigies?

Isn't that a racist hate crime???

Just sayin'............

[SpinnerWebb]

what are they constructing, mewonders? hmmm?

[Palladin]

Poor vultures—driven to despair by the recession.

[MarineBrat]

Those of us who haven't a politically correct bone in our bodies don't have such issues. This is exactly what BB guns were made for!

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Thanks for the reminder!.....

[mgstarr]

Uncanny resemblance isn’t it??

[Young Werther]

It's a globbal warming tactic. The Condors are limiting their population. Since Abortion isn't an option, (they don't have health insurance), they are making condoms with the rubber they're harvesting.

I will apply for a stimulus grant for my new agency

Agency

Condors

On

Restive

Nests

Hopefully I can use that for a trip to ...Oops.

Well maybe one of Tiger's Chicks would go for (with) me.

[Vroomfondel]

Probably just think it's salmiak.

[b4its2late]

They look kinda cool, but I wouldn’t want them pecking at my tires.... and especially at my body. LOL

[School of Rational Thought]

What do they do in New Zealand. They have big parrots down there on the south island that do the same thing.