North DSM News

The Perry City Council continues to struggle with the matter of migratory birds in the area, recently approving a resolution that would allow the city to submit an application for a renewal of their depredation permit for migratory birds to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

A depredation permit allows for the taking and killing of select birds, provided that they are not eagles or any threatened or endangered species.

“I think it's probably about the same [amount over the last few years]. It’s just that changing the area is moving them around,” Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn said during the Jan. 16 Perry Council Meeting. “I wish there was a better way to get rid of them, but I have no idea.”

A depredation permit can be given to a person or entity when it is deemed there is a threat to human health and safety, damage to crops or agriculture, or to another threatened species. 

Perry has struggled with migratory turkey vultures for more than a decade now. The council first applied for a depredation permit for the flocks perching all over town in 2013, and it has renewed the permit every year since. The permit is awarded only on a temporary basis, until the threat stops appearing or a more permanent solution is found. 

Despite trying many methods -- like loud noises, lights, putting spikes up on their roosting areas and even having some of their preferred trees cut down -- no permanent solution has been found, according to The Perry News. 

The vultures’ current favorite place appears to be over the water tower, where the Public Works Department is trying to install spikes to ward them off. The police department has taken quite a few birds over the years to scare off the rest of them, but short of cutting down all the trees in town, city workers aren’t sure of what else to try. 

The birds have moved away from the original spot in town where they gathered, so it is conceivable that they will move out of the city within the next few years, city leaders are hoping.