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 Â 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. Â =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================