Vultures flocking to New Jersey

FLORENCE, N.J., Oct. 15 (UPI) -- The state of New Jersey has recently seen a marked increase in its vulture population, the New York Times reported Sunday.

New Jersey may have as many as 5,000 more turkey vultures as well as black vultures, a Southern species that over the past two decades has been moving north.

In the town of Florence, N.J,, a mixture of turkey vultures and black vultures has become a burden to residents, moving some to take measures like placing ribbons on trees to confuse the enormous birds, but to no avail.

In Florence, the Times talked to the Rev. Fred Capwell, a retired pastor of a Baptist church, who attributed the vulture population explosion to a growing landfill across the Delaware River.