Vultures invade Carthage neighborhood

For the past several months, hundreds of turkey vultures have been descending along a half-mile stretch of Dowd Street in Carthage.

Neighbors say they the scavengers – although they aren't generally harmful to people – are a nuisance.

Annie Percell says the birds have been picking apart the top of her Buick Park Avenue and tearing up her lawn furniture.

"They're big, and they just walk around like they own the place," Percell said Friday. "One girl told me 150 were on top of the house."

Moore County animal control officials say they aren't exactly sure why the birds are converging on the neighborhood. One possible reason is the thick vegetation in the area.

But there's not much neighbors in the area can do, because the birds are federally protected.

State wildlife officers say the best way to encourage the birds to move on is to harass them at twilight with lot of noise.

Dorothy Pamela Phillips says they started perching near her yard by the dozens a couple years ago.

Since then, the number has soared into the hundreds.

"It's evolved," she said. "Now, it's like a chicken coop with the smell that's a result of it."