Apparently, the vultures that hang around in the parking lot of the trailheads like to eat rubber seals on cars. In our case, they ate the seal across the top of the windshield on my XK convertible while we were out hiking.

We thought that the tarps on peoples cars were to stop the bird poop, but that was not the main reason.

So, the poop I can deal with.

The seal, not so much. I am not amused.

Does anyone know the part number for the seal where the convertible top meets the windshield?

 

Ouch!





The "rotate" symbol indicates superseded so I think you should be looking for P/N C2P23805

Graham

 

That's one of the craziest things I've heard in awhile!

 

RTV - the poor man's OEM seal

 

Insurance claim? Would fall under comprehensive/vandalism. In my case nothing out of pocket for repairs.

 

Caught in the act! Note the warning sign at the beginning of the video.

 

Sometimes Im glad I live in England, the only vultures are the two legged flightless female kind

 

Keas in New Zealand are also well-known to attack rubber or plastic molding on cars.

 

That is bizarre, I have lived here my entire life and never seen anything like that!!! For the OP sorry your car took damage, if the birds congregated like the van in the video did they scratch up the paint also.

Thank God that the Vultures around the rest of the state haven't figured out that window seals seem to be tasty. We have vultures everywhere, they perform a great service cleaning up the roadkill, but stay away from my car dammit.

A google search came up with the fact that this has happened in other areas also, not exclusive to the Everglades buzzard community. This is a notice in the Lake Monroe in Indiana.

Black Vultures and Vehicle Damage (in.gov)

 

Thanks for the part number, Graham! Looks like the cheapest is about $235.

 

My deductible is $1,000, so no luck there.

 

Yes!!! That is the exact place!

I was out hiking for about 1 1/2 hours, we came back to the gift shop and I saw the little bitty sign right outside the gift shop that said they might eat the seals on your car. I also saw that someone had put a tarp on my car, presumably because the birds were already damaging my car. We went out hiking again for another hour, when I got back, the tarp was on the ground, there was a vulture on my car, and the damage was done. Plus vulture poop also.

Seems to me that if they are aware that his kind of damage can be done, they need better signage, or better yet, chase them away and don't let them hang around the parking area.

Also, the big sign that says "vultures may damage cars" (which I didn't see), doesn't really help. I thought at worst that meant they might poop on your car.

 

Managing vultures can be tricky. They are a protected species under the Migratory Bird Act, so you cannot kill them or interfere with the raising of young without a permit. Loud noises can be used to scare them away from an area, but this is a temporary solution and is labor-intensive, as well as annoying in a place where quiet is valued (such as where you were hiking). A more permanent solution is to hang a dead vulture "in effigy" (by a foot) at a high and visible point in the area. This will drive the birds away, but cannot be done near active nesting sites. The logistics of legally obtaining a dead vulture has its own issues. Not to mention dealing with the carcass as it decays! A fake vulture that is pretty lifelike might be better...

Did you check your car when you saw that someone had put a tarp over it, or assume that the tarp was there just to keep droppings off your paint/glass?

Thanks.

 

Hmmm,..the videographer gets no Good Samaritan points for that one. He just filmed as the vultures damaged someone else's car...

 

Hiking? In the Everglades? That place full of alligators, Burmese pythons and boa constrictors...let me just think about that for a while

 

A lot of people think that because alligators usually walk slowly on land that they are slow. Not so. Alligators can move very quickly in short bursts - about 20 to 25 feet. So people get stupidly close to them to take selfies or videos.

People think "no problem." Alligator thinks "lunch." Helping improve the gene pool I guess... Below video is kind of long, so watch from about 4:00 on. Love it when the guy says "crocodiles, or whatever they call them down here."

 

At first I was kinda mad that someone fooled with my car at all. Then I figured it would keep the poop off my car and that someone was being nice, so I didn't inspect it closer and continued with our hike. It never occurred to me that the birds would do actual damage. And after I had read the little sign, the tarp was in place so I didn't really worry about it.

And, yes there was a nice 8ft alligator next to the path. My wife thought it was a tire at first! We are from Louisiana so alligators are no big deal to us. There also was a snake crossing the road as we were driving. Don't know what kind, but I tried to miss it. I think I succeeded because it didn't roll up after passing over it so I assume it was OK. We also saw a soft shelled snapping turtle, a bald eagle, and purple gallinules. That was pretty much it for the wildlife, but it is the middle of winter. Oh, and lots of stupid vultures.

And they have alligators in the Everglades, but also American crocodiles, though they are rare. I have never seen a crocodile.

 

Although I don’t think it would apply here as the vultures likely call the Everglades home (and would likely violate the act that protects them), in urban areas to manage crow populations they have used Falconry to ‘herd’ the crows out of areas to prevent damage. (I also can’t say that a falcon would scare a vulture, since the latter is a bit bigger...)

Trained falcons don’t kill the crows either, but it works. I guess the park could have a falcon patrol the parking lot.

 

There's Florida and Louisiana off the holiday list.

Graham

 

Sounds like it could be a good Farmers Insurance commercial; Vulture Culture.

Sorry to make light of this. Sucks that deductible does not make sense for claim. Got me thinking if something like this is covered under car insurance policy I have.

Maybe take that annual donation to "save the vultures" and put towards a new seal... and deduct it on your taxes anyway.