BULL SHOALS — Bull Shoals Dam has some unwelcome visitors this fall.
Officials say more than 1,000 vultures have made themselves at home atop the dam on Bull Shoals Lake in north Arkansas. Mountain Home radio station KTLO reported that officials plan to fire a propane-powered cannon to scare off the birds.
Bruce Caldwell of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the cannon makes a loud thunderclap noise. It doesn’t shoot off a projectile.
Caldwell says the birds’ droppings are already causing damage to parts of the dam.
He says the vultures are also pecking anything soft and pliable — including windshield wiper blades and rubber on doors and windows of nearby vehicles.
Even if the cannon doesn’t work, officials expect the vultures to clear out once cold weather settles in.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette will have more on this story.