El Reno Takes Unique Approach To Remedy Bird Problem

Posted: Aug 06, 2014 3:57 AM GDTUpdated: Aug 06, 2014 3:57 AM GDT

By Steve Shaw, News 9 - bio | email

The propane powered cannon works on a timer and is used to scare away hundreds of black birds that migrate to the trees in the neighborhood this time of year.

EL RENO, Oklahoma -

Residents in El Reno's Holbrook neighborhood had to put up with loud booms around dusk Tuesday night.

The booms came from what El Reno Animal Control Director Mike Townsend call his "Bird Blaster”. The propane powered cannon works on a timer and is used to scare away hundreds of black birds that migrate to the trees in the neighborhood this time of year.

Townsend says the birds leave droppings that can be a health hazard.

"They can just tear up the backyards, and if we don't stay on top of it, it can get pretty nasty," he said.

Townsend says firing the bird blaster doesn't hurt the birds, it just scares them away.

Source

Vultures return after bird cannon removal

By Joe Beck

The bird cannon is gone, and the black vultures have returned to the Jamestown Road and Cavalier Drive neighborhood in Front Royal.

The police department's experiment with using a booming cannon to prod the unwanted birds into finding a different perch came to an end when neighbors complained about the noise.

Chief Norman Shiflett is taking some consolation that fewer vultures are being seen in the neighborhood than a few months ago.

"I don't believe there are as many vultures as there were before we put the cannon in place," Shiflett said.

The vultures arrive dependably every evening around dusk and roost in a stand of pine trees next to a long vacant house. They take to the sky in the morning in search of animal carcasses to feed on and return again in the evening.

Police rolled out the bird cannon a little over a month ago after years of complaints by neighbors upset over vulture droppings as well as the birds' smell and unsightly appearance.

Kelly Walker, a neighborhood resident, said last week she noticed about a dozen vultures back in the trees after the bird cannon disappeared.

Continued

Farm board gives green light to bird cannon on dairy farm

The fight to “ban the cannons” could shift to a new battlefield with a recent Farm Industry Review Board decision to allow a propane cannon on a Vancouver Island dairy farm.

For almost a decade, many who live near Lower Mainland blueberry fields have been lobbying various levels of government to ban the noisy propane cannons used to scare away berry-eating birds.

The FIRB, which is tasked with administering the Farm Practices Protection Act and hearing complaints about farm noise, smell and other nuisances, has typically sided with blueberry farmers, defining cannon use as a normal farm practice. Opponents have made limited gains in recent years, however, with some municipalities passing tighter regulations on their use.

Continued