By Kate Savacool
Vultures have long been symbols of death in Western culture. Their
very presence, with large black bodies and expansive wingspan, seem
to radiate a sense of impending doom.
However, students at Raritan Valley Community College have gotten a
close view of vultures that goes beyond that stereotype. Black vultures
have been sighted on the third floor of the Somerset Building, and it
appears as if they have chosen this site as their home.
If a class in Room 349 is lucky, they will actually see these vultures
land on top of a concrete strip just outside the window, and if a class
is really lucky—depending on your definition of “lucky”—the
birds will perch on the cramped window sill and peer through the glass
at the strange, two-legged creatures sitting inside. This kind of behavior
“started a few months ago,” says Reinhold Woykowski, manager
of Safety and Facilities. “They were first spotted approximately
six months ago.”
What exactly drew these birds so closely to humans? James Marinaccio,
a professor of biology at the college, says it’s hard to say what
attracts birds to specific roosting sites.
“It may have something to do with the fact that the building
is warm, and … they may be attracted to that as opposed to some
of the trees in the forest. I think that’s definitely an advantage,”
the professor says.
According to Woykowski, another advantage is the scenery. “From
what I understand, they like getting a good view,” he says. “They
will not turn their backs and look at the building—they want a
front view.”
However, there are disadvantages to nesting on top of buildings. “The
biggest disadvantage, of course, is human interference with their nesting
behavior,” says Professor Marinaccio. “That’d be the
only disadvantage I see.”
Woykowski was forced to disrupt he birds’ roosting grounds recently
after a rather embarrassing problem arose with the birds’ toilet
habits. “Where they actually positioned themselves,” he
explains, “was on the large archway in front of the theater/library.
And they relieved themselves, causing a mess all in front of the glass
windows that you could see all over the place. The concern was that
it was getting worse—the glass was getting dirtier. We thought
that they would just kind of go away at first.”
But as the birds grew to an impressive size and began to make a mess
not only on the windows but on the sidewalk, Woykowski realized that
he would have to do something about this problem before it became too
much of a health concern. Since black vultures are one of the many species
of predatory birds protected by the government, Woykowski decided to
put this problem in the hands of professionals.
“We reached out to Wildlife Management, and we ordered spikes,
as they call them,.” he explained. As disconcerting as these spikes
sound, they are not designed to harm the birds, only to discourage them
from landing. Woykowski decided that these spikes should be made of
plastic instead of metal to prevent rust, and if you go up the stairs
to the Quiet Study room, you will be able to see the spikes out of the
window. “We put up approximately 72 feet of spikes,” Woykowski
says.
The whole project cost approximately $2,400, plus the cost to clean
up the mess on the windows.
“The day that we put the spikes up, once it was done, I noticed
the two [vultures] coming and then flying away because they couldn’t
land,” Woykowski recalls. “Then I looked out and I saw two
more, and then another two, and another two. I almost believed that
they told their family members ‘Look what they did to us!’”
With Wildlife Management’s help, the birds were driven from the
main archway. Woykowski doesn’t seem to be bothered by the birds
relocation to another campus site. “All we wanted to do was to
make them go to another location that wouldn’t be threatening
or be a mess,” he said.
Now that these birds are repositioned on the third floor, they aren’t
in danger of being moved again by Wildlife Management and are not in
danger of becoming a nuisance again.
“The fact that they’re on the third floor probably [proves
that] they’re not going to be interfered with too much,”
says Professor Marinaccio. He also adds that he is very interested in
seeing these birds.
The two vultures in question could be seen in Phil Cornell’s
Feature Writing Class at anytime from 10:30 to 11:50, but there is also
a chance that the birds can be seen at any other hours of the day as
well.
And as menacing as they look when they’re staring you right in
the face, Professor Marinaccio doesn’t believe they’ll try
to cause any harm to anyone. “They aren’t interested in
interacting with humans,” he says, “and they’re certainly
beautiful to watch.”
Rather than a symbol of death, the vultures have produced a symbol
of life. Recently, a small brown fuzzy hatchling was seen on the roof
alongside one of the adult birds.
