FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Noise war against starlings at Vandy

[Dthomp2669@xxxxxxx]

From today's NASHVILLE CITY PAPER.  Thought Tennessee birders might be 
interested.
Dee Thompson
Nashville, TN

Vandy wages noise war against birds 
By Katharine Mosher, kmosher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
February 08, 2005
    
Sidewalks white with bird droppings mean it is time for Vanderbilt University 
to break out the firecrackers, propane percussion cannons and laser beams â?? 
again.

They are weapons in what university officials call a â??noise warâ?? against 
starlings, too many of which have settled in the magnolia trees around the 
pristine grounds.

Ever since the campus was inundated with roughly half a million starlings in 
1995, school officials have been quick to prevent such levels of infestation 
again.

They have nothing against birds, but fungus in the birdsâ?? feces can cause 
flu-like symptoms or even lung disease that makes them, in large numbers, a 
health hazard.

No illnesses have arisen at Vanderbilt so far, according to officials who 
oversee the bird dispersion campaign.

â??Whenever you have an accumulation of bird droppings, that is always a 
possibility,â?? Vanderbilt Director of Operations Lis Wyatt said. â??We just 
want to 
take care of the problem before it gets serious.â??

The problem areas this year are confined to three areas: the sidewalks of 
Garland and Highland avenues and a zone near the Parmer Field House.

Beginning at 4:30 p.m. Friday, university officials will disturb the birdsâ?? 
roosting patterns with recordings of birds in distress, low-level lights and 
laser beams, firecrackers and propane percussion cannons to keep the problem 
from spreading campus-wide.

These techniques will be used from 4:30-6 p.m. from 6-6:30 a.m. through Feb. 
15. The louder techniques will be used only during early evening hours. 

Coincidentally, it was Vanderbilt doctors William DeMonbreum, Edna Tompkins 
and J.C. Peterson in the 1930s and 1940s who made some of the first discoveries 
related to histoplasmosis, the lung disease linked to exposure to these bird 
droppings.   
    

    
    
    
    


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