A North Texas city declares war on a type of bird

CARROLLTON, Texas -

A Carrollton neighborhood has been invaded by noisy and messy egrets and now is the time of year when the birds are looking for a place to nest.

Once they've built a nest and laid their eggs, they're protected by federal law and can't be harmed.

Until that happens, it's open season on scaring them off.

And officials with the City of Carrollton aren't pulling any punches.  They hand out goody bags with air horns in them to residents who had problems with the birds last year.  The city also uses air cannons, screamers, which are shots that whistle as they go up in the air and bangers that produce another loud noise.

As soon as a resident sees an egret, the goal is to scare it off.

20 goody bags with air horns and other deterrents have been given out to residents and they're asked to call the city if they see one of the pesky birds.

Read more: http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/21661935/a-north-texas-city-declares-war-on-a-type-of-bird#ixzz2NtmSUIcE