It’s been a battle that has been ongoing for years. The vultures who call Dutch Gap home and the problems they cause have caused many to scratch their heads in frustration. Conservationists don’t want the birds, who are protected under the Migratory Bird Act, harmed, boaters at Dutch Gap don’t like their vehicles being pecked at or bird droppings landing on the vehicles, and Dominion Power has faced some dangerous challenges from the birds that are attracted to Dutch Gap.
But, there is a positive update to this man against nature challenge, Bo Bottoms, a supervisor and operator at Dominion Power, has come up with an ingenious way to scare off the birds without harming them.
“Over the years we have tried all kinds of things,” Bottoms explains, “but after a while they come back. They perch on the railings of our walkways and the smoke stacks. The bird waste smells of ammonia and is very slippery. We have to have the walkways power washed so our workers won’t fall. There have been days that we have had to be up there on the walkways in 30-plus mile an hour winds washing off bird waste, that’s just not right and it’s dangerous.”
Then one day, Bottoms made a discovery.
“The vultures were sitting on the railings and I began to wave my arms in the air, “Bottoms said, “and they flew away. That got me to thinking, and I thought about the Air Dancers, and we tried placing them around the areas the vultures perch on, and it worked!”
The Air Dancer is an inflatable moving product comprising a long fabric tube (with two or more outlets), which is attached to and powered by an electric fan. As the fan blows air through the fabric tube, this causes the tube to move about in a dynamic dancing or flailing motion. The vultures got the message and flew away from the Dominion equipment and walkways.
“It’s been a big improvement,” Bottoms said, “The Air Dancers are kept going 24/7 to keep the vultures away from the railings and walkways. I put up new Air Dancers every few months, changing colors and designs so the vultures won’t get used to them.”
The vulture situation has been a controversial issue as solutions have been sought regarding their attraction to Dutch Gap Boat Landing and Dominion Power, which is adjacent to the boat landing.
The turkey and black vultures who call Dutch Gap home have a strong pull to the area. The rocky terrain is ideal for vulture breeding grounds; the birds don’t build nests, but lay eggs in rocky crevices and abandoned buildings. Vultures are scavengers, not predators, and their food consists of carrion (carcasses and scraps). Dutch Gap boat landing a popular boating area, numerous fisherman use the area.Unfortunately, fish scraps can frequently be found in this area along with litter from visitors, even though Parks and Rec hasnumerous trash receptacles throughout the area. The vultures have been seen feasting on entire fish carcasses that were tossed around the boat docks.
In efforts to control the vulture population at Dutch Gap, Chesterfield County has a joint effort with Chesterfield Parks and Rec, Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries, and by contract – USDA Wildlife Services. The operation at Dutch Gap Boat Landing has cost Chesterfield taxpayers over $118,000 (taken from the Parks and Rec budget) since the year 2000, and over 1,200 vultures have been trapped and euthanized. In July 2016, Chesterfield Parks and Rec again renewed its contract with the USDA to monitor the Vulture situation at Dutch Gap.
For now Dominion Power efforts to solve the vulture situation at the plant seem to be working. “I’m glad the Air Dancers are working,” Bottom said, “that way the birds aren’t harmed.”
