Orange County has a new plan to deal with turkey vultures that are circling the courthouse.
The county plans to install low-voltage shock strips to keep the vultures away.
The device shouldn’t hurt the birds, which the county said damage the building by relieving themselves on it and by pecking at caulking.
Resident Dennis Matthews said you can see the birds from the inside.
“They’re just flying by and occasionally you can see them landing on the roof, or above the floor that I’m in,” said Matthews.
The Audubon Center said the vultures are attracted to the courthouse because of its height, and the rising heat and winds help them glide.
“The heat affects the wind currents. It gives them lift so that that can actually fly with it,” said Laura VonMutius of the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey.
The problem isn’t new.
In 2013, the county planned to spend about $250,000 to re-grout the building’s top floors, but the issue seemed to resolve itself when a hawk took up residence nearby.
VonMutius said the birds help by eating dead animals, but are tough to get rid of.
“They’re really intelligent birds, so the wires and the little spikes aren’t going to do much for them,” she said.
The courthouse used to have a shock line but it was damaged by a hurricane in 2005.
The birds may head north for the summer, but the county hopes they’ll fly away for good.
The county has set aside $300,000 for the new shock strip system.