Posted on 03/08/2013 12:16:00 PM PST by Uncle Chip
If vultures are a bad omen, one New Jersey town should brace for disaster.
More than 100 of the sinister black birds descended on Bridgewater this week, spooking residents.
But authorities are more concerned about the damage the vultures will do to the properties they're congregating near.
...............
Resident Tim Friar said he'd seen the birds gather in the same area before but never this many.
'I noticed them about two years ago and thought, now that's a big bird,' he told nj.com. 'Then I started to see an ungodly amount. It's just eerie.'
'Vultures like pine trees and evergreen trees because they still have the needles that offer protection from the elements,' Rein said. 'They typically nest later in the season but they don't build nests in trees, rather on the ground an in caves or abandoned barns.'
The residents believe the trees the vultures' were previously living in may have been knocked down in the storm, forcing them to find a new home in their neighborhood.
The birds can occasionally attack people or animals, though they feast on dead creatures rather than the living.
As creepy as it sounds, Rein said the best way to tackle a vulture invasion is to hang a dead vulture carcass, or effigy, upside-down from a tree with the wings spread in the area they're congregating.
'The vulture effigy is a visual deterrent to the birds for that season but they may come back in future seasons,' Rein told nj.com.
The affected Bridgewater residents were planning to chip in to pay for the effigy, which costs around $500 per carcass.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I love vultures. They are humble. They just want what no one else has use for.
Is it coincidence that 100 is the number of US Senators, or has our Senate moved north?
At first, I thought the U.S. Senate was coming to town, then I read the excerpt.
Did they receive an invitation from the town’s lawyers, or did they drop in unannounced?
Why does it cost $500 per carcass ?
Was in Fla a few years back, right after a cold spell that killed a bunch of tilapia. The vultures were everywhere, especially hung out around the crocs because they smelled like dead fish.
“professional courtesy”
Maybe the vultures read where most of those in this neighborhood voted for Obama[care].
Incidentally just read where a gathering of vultures around a carcass is called a “wake” — a wake of vultures.
Bridgewater NJ is not really what you call ‘’upmarket’’.
I wonder if this would work with ambulance chasers.
Jeez. Why are they complaining? If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Why don’t they have a Buzzard Festival or something? There are other places that do this out West. I guess Jersey residents are too used to being spoon fed by the government to have any imagination!
Because you have to wrestle the carcass away from the wake of vultures first before you can hang it.
I've been to a few family gatherings where that name would be appropriate, given the behavior.
The affected Bridgewater residents were planning to chip in to pay for the effigy, which costs around $500 per carcass
...
um... give me a 22 and some string and i’ll do it for half the cost!
0bama minions?
The Pancake and Sausage Breakfast is great!
There was a house in a near by town that had a couple dozen on its roof - big mess.
We’ve had a dozen or so come circling in in the evening to roost in the pines - vulture guano on the rhododendrons, so pretty.
I used to try to throw stones at them but I have a terrible arm. Maybe a slingshot.
For years I looked for black vultures whenever we went down South - never saw them, never could put them on my list. The first ones I ever saw were here in NJ, and now they’re everywhere.
2nd Amendment celebration.
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