City hangs model of vulture to keep others from roosting

The City of Midway is trying another tactic to reduce the number of vultures that roost in the town, especially in evergreen groves in the winter. Meet Fred the vulture.

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift with Fred

Fred, a model of a red-headed turkey vulture, was hung upside down in a tall tree northwest of the intersection of Winter and Bruen streets early Monday afternoon, in the hope that the apparent carcass will dissuade vultures who, ironically, subsist on carcasses of other animals.

Marcus Stewart of Art's Electric, from Frankfort, used copper wire to hang Fred in the yard of a homeowner who wanted to remain nameless but said her child is unable to play in the yard due to vulture droppings.

Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said the city bought Fred on the advice of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for $120 and would pay Art's $50 for hanging him. He said Fred amounts to a relatively inexpensive experiment that could be be repeated elsewhere if it proves successful.

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