Vultures Are Everywhere on This Ohio College Campus

Vultures really like the cozy confines of Denison College.

The liberal arts college, located about 30 miles east of Columbus, Ohio has about 2,100 students and the perfect environment for vultures.

“It’s been a historical site for these vultures. They have a little bit of everything they need,” Jeff Pelc, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service told the Columbus Dispatch recently. He cited an abundance of tall trees and warm areas near air vents as two main reasons.

The school has reported that the birds have caused nearly $50,000 in damage to buildings and their droppings around vents have created a health hazard.

The Agriculture Dept. has hung vulture effigies in trees and used fireworks in an attempt to scare the birds off. The methods have been pretty successful so far, but it’s unclear if the birds will return once things settle down.

I've always loved the buzzard effigy. (Really! A woman in my hometown threw a party when they hung hers!)

"They see one of their own hanging dead, they know it means danger."@ohiocapitalblog reports.https://t.co/PKB2WSZ6Xx

— Holly Zachariah (@hollyzachariah) January 21, 2018

If all the birds can be persuaded to leave, there is the small matter of where they will go. The nearby town of Granville doesn’t want a Vulture invasion, and residents have been encouraged to bang pots and pans to drive them away.