Years ago a commissioner on the Pennsylvania Game Commission board casually inquired during a meeting about the possibility, or feasibility, of pushing for a limited harvest of raptors.
This commissioner felt the avian predators might be having too much of an impact on small game populations, and maybe the protection afforded by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act was working too well, and actually tipping the balance between predator and prey.
Needless to say, when the mere suggestion of harvesting hawks and the like was mentioned, the idea was met with an enormous amount of backlash and it wasn’t discussed again.
At the time, I didn’t think it was a good idea. In fact, I thought it was somewhat radical.
Still, the suggestion opened the door to a bigger question – one that I fell is worthy of discussion. One of the basic goals for any wildlife manager is to maintain an equitable balance between predator and prey. That’s why there’s a season to hunt rabbits, and a time to trap fox. We harvest ducks and trap raccoons. We hunt for deer and shoot coyotes.
It’s all in the name of balance.
So why don’t we manage raptors? And if humans don’t manage them, what does? What keeps the hawk population, for example, in check with the prey population?
There are hunting seasons for some of the species listed under the migratory bird act – waterfowl and doves, for example. Maybe, however, it’s time to lessen the protection afforded to another species on the list and consider some means of control for it as well.
Complaints involving black vultures are increasing significantly over the last two years, according to Nokota Harpster, a state wildlife biologist with USDA’s Wildlife Services. Unlike turkey vultures which are primarily scavengers, Harpster said black vultures are predators and there are confirmed reports of the birds killing calves and even fawns in Pennsylvania.
Matt Guedes has a high-fence hunting property in Northeast Pennsylvania called Camp Freedom where he offers hunts for veterans. Included in his property is a deer farm, with several breeding each several acres in size. The pens replicate a wild setting, he said, with plenty of woods.
Two years ago, Guedes experienced a devastating loss from black vultures. The birds killed 14 of his fawns, Guedes said, and every single time the circumstances were the same.
“The first thing they do is peck out the eyes, and then they go to the guts and eat there,” Guedes said. “In 20 minutes, they have it picked clean.”
Not all of the fawns that Guedes found were necessarily young and vulnerable, either. Some of the fawns were killed in August and September, he said, when they were a couple months old.
Considering the pens on Guedes’ farm are wooded and quite large, I’d say it’s certainly possible that black vultures will kill a fawn in the wild as well.
Perhaps it’s a form of fawn mortality that is occurring more than we know.
Since black vultures are migratory and they’re protected by federal law, options for dealing with them are limited. Guedes did apply for and receive a permit allowing him to kill five black vultures, but he was only able to get one. He hung the dead bird upside down from a tree – a tactic advised by Wildlife Services to deter other black vultures from the area – but Guedes said it didn’t really do much.
I did cut down every dead tree where we’ve seen them roost, and that seemed to help this year,” he said.
There is federal legislation (S-668) designed to lessen the protections on black vultures in certain circumstances, allowing for lethal means of control when personal property or livestock are impacted. The bill was introduced by Kentucky Senator Ran Paul in March and is currently in committee.
Perhaps it’s time to re-consider the protection that has been afforded to some avian species under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. In the case of black vultures, and maybe a few other species, it seems the balance between predator and prey has become lopsided, and the impact on both livestock and wildlife could be greater than we realize.
- Cutline (Photo provided by USDA Wildlife Services): Black vultures perch on a roof on a home in Pennsylvania. The birds have caused significant problems in areas, and there are reports they kill calves, sheep and other livestock.
