VINTON, Va. (AP) - Officials in a Virginia town are looking for ways to get migrating buzzards to buzz off.
This year, nearly 100 vultures landed in the Gladetown area of Vinton. Vinton police officers fired booming guns into the air to drive the birds away, and most left.
Town manager Chris Lawrence tells The Roanoke Times that more efficient methods are being considered for the vultures' return next year.
The town could apply for a federal permit to kill one vulture. The remains would be hung near the other vultures. Lawrence says the vultures would disperse because they don't like to be around their own dead.
He says vultures are loud and dirty and tear up trees. But he says the town tries to co-exist with nature.