Dear City of Radford:

Please stop shooting at the vultures.

I’m sick of it. Several times a week my neighbors and I are treated to the same tiresome routine: an Animal Control Police Officer pulls up to the woods at the end of my Radford Village street, takes aim, and – BANG! – fires explosives up into the trees. Even if the so-called “bird-bangers” shoot blanks, no matter how often it happens, having our peaceful morning shattered by explosions never fails to shock.

For a host of reasons, this activity should be stopped immediately; here are a few of the more obvious:

1. It is unnecessary.
Why are we doing this? The vultures are not hurting anyone. In fact, as a nearby resident in Radford Village, I enjoy watching them kettling in the sky above my house, gliding gracefully to their roost in the evenings and lifting into the air at first light. They are quiet neighbors, and they mind their own business. If anything, the vultures do us a great service by cleaning our city and surrounding areas of road kill. Thinking that an animal is creepy or speculating on damage that might be done is no grounds for the type of harassment we have made city policy.

2. It is ineffective.
This policy of harassment is like trying to bail the New River with a teacup. The repeated harassment of our resident “garbage disposals” has been completely ineffective. The birds haven’t left; they continue to use the perch regardless of these efforts. The vultures were here long before we were, and no doubt they’ll outlast us as well.

3. It is a waste of money.
Since this policy is both unnecessary and ineffective, any money spent on it is an irresponsible waste of valuable city funds. How much do the explosives cost? How many resources are used in the permitting process? How many man-hours are devoted to managing and implementing this policy? Spending our tax dollars on these efforts is clear fiscal irresponsibility.

4. It is distressing.
My family and I are much more disturbed by the loud pyrotechnics than by any birds. As we are getting up in the morning or sitting down to breakfast, suddenly a loud bang rips through the peaceful start to our day, making us jump and setting our dog into terrified barking as she comes running to cower at our feet. No matter how many times we tell her, “It’s OK,” she knows it’s not OK. And so do we.

5. It is cruel.
A vulture’s life is a delicate balance between gaining and expending energy. Subsisting entirely on carrion that is not always readily available, they are necessarily masters of conserving energy, both in flight and in their roosts. They wait in their roosts until sufficient thermals begin to rise so that they can soar with the least expenditure of calories. By prematurely evicting these birds from their winter roost with loud pyrotechnics, we don’t dissuade them from roosting there, but we do panic them into unnecessary flight. Does this cause them to burn more calories than they can replace, ultimately endangering their lives? Are we then in fact guilty of indirectly killing this protected migratory bird and violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act? I think a strong argument could be made that we are.

6. It is counterproductive.
The Radford University biology department has been awarded a grant and has invested many dollars and hours to set up an observation camera in the Radford Village roost in order to better study and understand our local vulture population. They have done this with the blessing and permission of the City of Radford. Research, and from that education, is the best long-term solution to any vulture/human conflicts that may arise. But by simultaneously authorizing the continued harassment and disturbance of the very subjects of this study, the city undermines these efforts and effectively renders them useless.

Like many of my fellow Radford residents, I count myself lucky that our city, and my neighborhood, is the home of one of the country’s largest vulture roosts. Instead of harassing these birds, let us celebrate their unique contribution to our city. Other communities with less impressive vulture populations have turned their presence into festivals that bring tourists and revenue to the city. Radford’s fledgling Vulture Festival, being held this weekend, could do the same for our city.

It is ridiculous for our community to continue to simultaneously celebrate, study and shoot at the vultures. Please reverse this expensive and ultimately futile policy and instead direct those funds toward education, management and celebration of this unique natural resource.

Please, Radford, call off the artillery.

Respectfully,
Rick Dickinson

Rick is editor of sustainabler.com, a Web site devoted to helping people go green.