9 Humane Methods On How To Deter Vultures

Did you know that turkey vultures, with their carrion-eating diet, help stop the spread of many diseases and keep the ground free of dangerous rotting corpses? It’s true! That doesn’t mean you have to enjoy seeing them hanging around your house or even tolerate them. Thankfully, there are many humane ways you can get rid of the turkey vultures in your area without hurting them.

Why are Vultures Hanging Around My House?

Vultures aren’t likely to move to your area for no good reason. They are intelligent birds that choose their homes carefully. If they’re hanging around your neighborhood, they have a good reason. Here are a few of the most common reasons you might see these birds lurking near you.

• Large Trees – Turkey vultures love big trees and will flock to any area that has large trees where they can perch and look for food.
• Dead Animals – Vultures go where their food is located, and if you have dead animals, garbage, dog food, cat food, or other easy meals outside, they’ll hang out with you for years.
• Water Sources – Do you have any ponds, lakes, or rivers near you? There’s a good chance that turkey vultures are attracted to your house because they love being close to water.
• Open Roof Areas – If your roof has open areas where turkey vultures can roost and stay safe (such as underneath the eaves), they’ll stick around your house and cause damage.

Getting rid of vultures requires a careful approach because they are federally protected and cannot be killed unless they are damaging a farm’s livestock or crops. Furthermore, it isn’t necessary to kill them anyway because various humane methods exist that make getting them off your property easy. Here’s a few techniques that you need to understand before you get frustrated with your vulture problem.

How To Deter Vultures In Your Yard

Getting rid of turkey vultures without hurting them requires either harassing them from your yard or making it inhospitable. After all, there’s no federal law saying that you can’t annoy a turkey off of your property! Here are a few ways that you can do just that and keep vultures out of your yard and keep your home and yard safe from vulture-based damage.

Install Noise-Based Devices

Noise-based devices can easily deter vultures from your yard. For example, some pest-control specialists may sell “distressed” signals that emulate an injured vulture. These noises will scare other vultures away from potential danger (the wimps). You may also install sirens, air horns, or other devices but prepare yourself for a bit of a cacophony until these buzzards finally leave you alone for good. Thankfully, you can easily take these items down when they do move away.

Remove Food and Water Sources

While vultures are known to primarily eat corpses, that doesn’t mean they limit their diet to them. For example, a vulture may happily roost out of your garbage or a dumpster near you. Keep your garbage indoors at all times and move any dumpsters off of your property. You can also consider installing fences around your lake or pond that makes it harder for vultures to roost and drink there. Some may even remove ponds entirely, though this action is expensive.

Cut Down or Trim Your Trees

Take this step only if you were already considering getting rid of our trimming your trees. It may cost a little bit of money and remove some shade from your yard, but vultures will stay away if they have nowhere to perch. Furthermore, removing trees also minimizes your risk of home damage, reduces termite risks in your home, and keep other damaging birds (like woodpeckers) out of your yard.

Fix Your Home’s Roof

Call a roofing professional to inspect your roof and check for any nesting areas where a vulture may hang out. Have them fix any damage to keep out vultures, such as opens roofing areas where birds like buzzards may hide. You can also install various metal strips along your roof’s edge to make it harder to perch. Pay attention to your chimney, if you have one, as birds may also nest here if given half a chance.

Other Steps You Can Take to Remove Vultures From Your Yard

If the methods mentioned above don’t work for you, there are several others you may consider. The following options are all fairly simple and should require minimal expenses. The last step is probably the route to go if you feel uncomfortable with vultures and want them gone for good. They include:

• “Scarevulture” – Install a large, bird-styled kite to fly high above your home. Vultures will flee from large birds, such as eagles, and may stay away from your home if they think one lives in the area.
• Shock Tracks – Pest-control specialists can install electrical shock tracks where vultures like to roost and scare them away. The electrical current is safe but annoying to the birds.
• Sprinkler Systems – Put up a motion-activated sprinkler system throughout your yard near places where you see vultures: the burst of water is likely to annoy them away.
• Buzzard Spikes – Put these safe spikes up around common vulture roosting areas. They don’t penetrate the vulture’s feet but make roosting there impossible for their weaker feet.
• Bright Lights – Birds freak out when they see flashes of light, so install things like mirrors and old CDs around your yard to reflect light and upset turkey buzzards.
• Expert Help – If none of these methods work or you’re worried about hurting any vulture, call a humane animal removal specialist to get them out of your yard for good.

By taking these simple steps, you can easily get vultures out of your yard without hurting any. That should please you as a bird lover and minimize your expenses. Remember: killing a vulture will cost you thousands in federal fines and is simply not worth the trouble.

Enjoyed reading about vultures? Know more facts about them as they are included in our list of the world’s largest birds.

Tired of bird poops on your car? Here are methods on how to clean bird poop off!