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Last updated on Wednesday, June 26, 2013
(BLOOMINGTON) - Indiana Department of Natural Resources say Black vultures are attacking vehicles parked at boat ramps along Lake Monroe.
The vultures are attracted to vehicle windshield wipers and sunroof seals. The DNR says most of the time, perching black vultures do little or no damage. However, in some cases, the destruction can be extensive. The vultures can tear out rubber seals, peck pieces out of truck bed liners and scratch paint with their claws.
Wildlife Specialist Rex Watters says no one knows why the vultures are attacking vehicles. But DNR officials are taking aggressive action to scare the birds away.
They are using a tool that looks like a toy gun which shoots a noise makers into the air.
It's working - vulture vandalism is down compared to last year.
When the birds come back, which they do, Watters returns and scares them off again.
Black vultures like to roost in dead trees. Watters says over the winter months the DNR chopped down several dead trees near the Fairfax boat ramp parking lot. That helped to limit the amount of roosting space available for the birds.
Watters says vultures are federally protected so they cannot be killed and their nesting areas cannot be disturbed.
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