Neighborhood finally freed from buzzard plague

Tupelo Northeast Mississippi Journal ^ | 01/02/04 | Errol Castens

[Holly_P]

OXFORD - Oxonians are accustomed to hosting eclectic groups of visitors who come to sample its small-town charm. They're even tolerant of quirky antics, like leaving bottles of bourbon on the grave of author William Faulkner.

Even the most gracious hosts, though, are glad to start the New Year without one particularly obnoxious group of visitors. Some 150 buzzards roosted for about six weeks near St. Peter's Cemetery before they finally succumbed to attempts to make them feel unwelcome.

"We had them for about six weeks, and they got rid of them the week of Christmas," said Jane Broome, who is the secretary at St. Andrew's United Methodist Church. "In the daytime, they just circled the church property. Late in the afternoon, the sky would be black with them."

The A-frame church building was one of the birds' favorite roosts - with predictable results.

"We had lots of ugly stains' up there," Broome said.

While hosting the super-duper poopers didn't quite equal the inconvenience of being invaded by the Union Army, residents did take up weapons of a sort to repel the encroachment. Ward 1 Alderman George "Pat" Patterson was one of the leaders in this latest Battle of Oxford.

"We took an assortment of people over there and shot fireworks and blew sirens," he said. "You could say we've been encouraging the buzzards to go elsewhere."

Patterson admitted such work was not exactly what he envisioned when he ran for his seat on the city board.

"I'm now the official buzzard abatement officer," he joked. "Really, though, things like this are part of my job."

More firepower might have persuaded them sooner, but legal and practical limitations intervened.

"We can run through and turn sirens on, but that's all law enforcement can do," said Assistant Police Chief Mike Martin. "You can't shoot them. They're federally protected, and besides, the bullets would have to come down somewhere."

Meanwhile, officials and residents are hoping the buzzards are gone for good.

"The battle seems to have been won, but it's too early to say the war is over," Patterson said.

[WackyKat]

Lot of vultures around here; both the turkey vulture and the common vulture

I love watching them sail on the updrafts and think they are quite attractive birds

Vultures are cool

[Support Free Republic]

Rank	Location	Receipts	Donors/Avg		Freepers/Avg		Monthlies
	Pennsylvania						255.00	18

Thanks for donating to Free Republic!

Move your locale up the leaderboard!

[Mackey]

Seagulls are bad enough-- I cannot imagine having to put up with buzzard droppings. Reckon I'd go berserko and whip out my trusty Remington.

[Mackey]

"quite attractive birds"?

Your last name wouldn't be Magoo, would it?

:)

[abner]

We have them here too. There is one particular place that about 20 of them roost every night. There is a really Gothic looking house across the street from the dead trees that they sleep in. Some mornings, there will be 20 or so of them on top of the house with their wings spread. A more awesome sight is tough to find!

[two23]

We have a huge dead oak tree nearby where they come to roost every winter. Late in the afternoon, they sit in the upper bare branches and open their wings to sun themselves...bunches of them. They don't seem to bother anyone. I took my grandson to a vantage point and we watched them with binoculars. We look for them every year.
They have a purpose-- (The Clean-Up Crew).

[two23]

width="408" height="648">

[WackyKat]

Seagulls are bad enough-- I cannot imagine having to put up with buzzard droppings. Reckon I'd go berserko and whip out my trusty Remington.

I'll never understand people like you-people who hate wild animals.

May a buzzard eat a bloated possum and cr#p it onto your head!

[flashbunny]

I'll never understand people like you who hate humans.

[KingNo155]

Same here I agree

[WackyKat]

I'll never understand people like you who hate humans.

Since when does loving animals and thinking they have a place in this world equate to hating humans?

That's just ignorant thinking- and I do hate ignorance

[Mackey]

May a buzzard eat a bloated possum and cr#p it onto your head!

Thought I'd get a rise out of you.

Did you know that you can lay very still out in a field, wearing dark sunglasses to conceal your eye movements, and bait buzzards? It's kinda creepy when they swoop in for a landing, but that's what it takes to bring them in within pistol range.

[WackyKat]

It's kinda creepy when they swoop in for a landing, but that's what it takes to bring them in within pistol rang

did you know that vultures are protected by federal law?

I'd love to see you with a federal felony on your record

Which,btw, would prohibit you for life from owning a firearm

Which is a good thing-sociopaths shouldn't own firearms

[backhoe]

We have turkey buzzards here in Georgia, and the first time I ever saw them close-up was at about the age of four... a pair were standing on the beach, and in my childish exuberance, I ran right up to them...

Good God, they were taller than I was!

Luckily, Mr. & Mrs. Buzzard was as startled as I was, and took off, cawing and flapping mightily... but I've never forgotten how big they seemed to a small child.

[Wombat101]

See? Vote Republican and your Buzzard problem magically goes away...

[sonofatpatcher2]

Re: Some 150 buzzards roosted for about six weeks near St. Peter's Cemetery

Those are just DemocRATs waiting for Howard Dean's Mississippi campaign on God, gays and guns...

[underdognewsgrl]

It's really quite funny that this is a plague to some people, but for our little town of Hinckley, we have an entire weekend devoted to having buzzards return!