Living in an apartment isn’t always easy. While renters enjoy benefits such as reduced maintenance costs and lack of property taxes, they may also face other issues. For example, a lack of price controls for renters across many major cities means that rent can suddenly skyrocket. Additionally, landlords can charge fees for everything, ranging from $150 for simply applying for the apartment to asking for a ‘pet fee’ for a pet fish.
Now, a user on TikTok has sparked discussion after sharing an apartment issue that few would expect: vultures.
In a video with over 135,000 views, Texas-based TikTok user Niya (@niya.ross) shows strange-looking birds on a renter’s balcony.
“When I first got here, I didn’t know what them things was,” she says. “The apartment complex then sent out an email talking about, ‘There was baby vultures, and the baby vultures have hatched.’”
@niya.ross This some crazy shit forreal! Like how?😂 #babyvultures #fyp #foryou #texas ♬ original sound – NIYA
The email received by Niya reads, in part, as follows: “The baby vultures have hatched and it looks like mom and dad are trying to teach them to fly. They have been shoved out of the nest and are currently sitting scared on the porch of a resident on the 1st level on the East side of the pool. PLEASE leave them alone. Let them learn to fly so that the family will fly out of here and vacate our community.”
“Pictures and large gatherings appear to scare them, remember, they are just babies and will not harm you, they want to be left alone,” the email continues.
According to Niya, the grown vultures have stayed in the complex. Her video shows what appear to be older vultures on someone else’s balcony.
“How is this possible? How is this legal?” she asks in the video.
As some commenters pointed out, it can be difficult to move vultures once they’ve decided to live somewhere.
“Vultures are a federally protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. This means that the birds, their nests, and eggs cannot be killed or destroyed without a Migratory Bird Depredation Permit,” reads a page from the University of Kentucky.
That said, the same site notes that there are other things that can be done to deter vultures.
“It is perfectly legal to harass vultures and use effigies to scare them away. Harassment is done to make the vultures feel unsafe or uncomfortable in an area, which may cause them to leave and not return,” the site reads. “Techniques to disturb vultures include loud noises (i.e., blow horns), spraying with a garden hose, or using pyrotechnics may be required.”
Vultures taking up residence in apartment complexes is nothing new. Numerous cases have been reported around the United States, ranging from big cities like Miami to smaller areas like Springfield, Missouri. In the latter case, property managers determined that there was little they could do as the birds are protected, so they opted to improve trash pickup and collection efforts in hopes of deterring the birds.
While they can be a nuisance, vultures are generally harmless, and can even provide benefits such as removing dead animals to stop the spread of disease.
That said, TikTokers in the comments section weren’t too happy to see them, and Niya revealed in a later video that the vultures were still present on the property.
@niya.ross Here‘s the update, I didn’t expect this.🤣🤣
♬ original sound – NIYA
“Noooo,” wrote one user. “I would’ve moved immediately!! Those things scared meeee.”
“Girl i stay in texas too! and complained cause it was a nest on my patio,” added another. “they talm bout its illegal to move the nest during nesting season.”
“Their poop is like battery acid,” offered a third. “Your complex better call some professionals to clean that mess up after they have been removed.”
“I would’ve came out w my broom too quick,” stated a further TikToker. “they don’t pay no rent round here.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Niya via Instagram direct message.
