Don't get me wrong...I love having birds around the house! It's one of the things we like best about our wooded property.
But...we are getting pestered by vultures. Black vultures and turkey vultures come to eat the food we put out for the other birds. At times, we have 10-12 or more in our back yard. And in trees surrounding our house, and on our roof, on our chimney caps, and on my weather station (actually pulling the screws out of the mounting bracket with their weight). They just hang around, waiting for something to die I guess.
Enough! As interesting as they are, I don't like their $#!+ deposits all over my roof, my deck, my grill (the final straw!). And, as the LOML and I are seniors, there is something ominous about vultures hanging around our house!
As an aside, these large birds flying over the skylights and landing (thump!) on the roof over our bathroom are a definite hazardous distraction for me whilst shaving...bloodshed results.
How do I discourage these creatures from visiting and lingering?
We have tried making a commotion, such as clapping, yelling, waving towels, etc. This has only a temporary effect on the birds (and an unknown effect on our neighbors who see this...)
I have a slingshot, and have tried to annoy them with projectiles, but they just look at me and move out of range. I have not actually hit any, but have hit tree trunks near them, and they duck and move away, continuing to look at me from a little further away ("is that all you've got?")
My thinking is that I should get a pellet gun, so I could actually sting a couple of them, and perhaps they would get the message and find someone else to bother. I don't want to injure them...I just want to teach them that coming here would be uncomfortable.
Any suggestions? Recommendations for a non-lethal pellet gun?
But...we are getting pestered by vultures. Black vultures and turkey vultures come to eat the food we put out for the other birds. At times, we have 10-12 or more in our back yard. And in trees surrounding our house, and on our roof, on our chimney caps, and on my weather station (actually pulling the screws out of the mounting bracket with their weight). They just hang around, waiting for something to die I guess.
Enough! As interesting as they are, I don't like their $#!+ deposits all over my roof, my deck, my grill (the final straw!). And, as the LOML and I are seniors, there is something ominous about vultures hanging around our house!
As an aside, these large birds flying over the skylights and landing (thump!) on the roof over our bathroom are a definite hazardous distraction for me whilst shaving...bloodshed results.
How do I discourage these creatures from visiting and lingering?
We have tried making a commotion, such as clapping, yelling, waving towels, etc. This has only a temporary effect on the birds (and an unknown effect on our neighbors who see this...)
I have a slingshot, and have tried to annoy them with projectiles, but they just look at me and move out of range. I have not actually hit any, but have hit tree trunks near them, and they duck and move away, continuing to look at me from a little further away ("is that all you've got?")
My thinking is that I should get a pellet gun, so I could actually sting a couple of them, and perhaps they would get the message and find someone else to bother. I don't want to injure them...I just want to teach them that coming here would be uncomfortable.
Any suggestions? Recommendations for a non-lethal pellet gun?