Evening star., 1940-01-04
Balloon Borroges Suggested
As Defense Against StorIings
'- Device Is Best Of Many Tried, in
Copito|, Lonhom DiscIoses

Balloon barrages may become IA
miliar sights in American cities as
defense weapons-for peace-time
protection from starlings.
In Washington, virtually every
conceivable device has been tried in
attempts to drive the pesky birds
from District and Federal build
ings. Gunfire. fire hose sprays, whip
cracking. hand clapping. nest raid
ing and assault with foul odor have
been employed, with only temporary
success at best.
The simple hydrogen-inflated rub
ber balloon, commonly used as toy,
is the best anti-starling armament
found by Clifford Lanham, super
intendent of trees and parkings in
the District, in five years of cam
paigning against the thousands Of
tiny birds that at times swarm
around downtown buildings and
trees.
So Mr.. Lanham today recommend
ed the use of balloons in answer to
queries arising in Virginia, where
the State Game Department yester-
day refused the Roanoke Gas g.
Light Co., permission to poison star
lings that the company said were
damaging its gas storage tank. In
refusing the permission. Mac D.
Hart, executive secretary of the
commission explained the commits
sion could not grant permit for
poisoning any kind of wild birds
and suggested the company con-
suit Washington authorities, who
have been tussling with this prob
lem for several years.
No Sure Method Found.
To begin with, Mr.. Lanham, whose
department has been scrimmaging
with starlings since 1884, said there
is no sure way of getting rid of the
birds.
IF there's anything within rea-
son that hasn't been tried around
here" Mr.. Lanham said, II don't
know what it is.
We've tried shooting them, but
that was no good. Baltimore ex-
perimented with shotguns, too, but
they figured that at the best rate
they were able to kill the birds that
procedure would take $50 years to
eradicate the starlings.
1--WE tried using fire hose, but that
proved to be expensive and some
thing of a nuisance.
"On. some of the Federal buildings
men have been detailed to drive the
starlings away by cracking whips at
them. That works fairly we'll, If
only temporarily. Sharp noises are
much more effective than merely
loud ones. For instance, we used
riot guns once and found that they
were not nearly as good as simply
clapping our hands.
Other Birds Killed Also.
Even If they were allowed to, I
don't think the Roanoke company
would find use of poison grain sat-
isfactory. I know of one corpora
ton near here that tried poisoning
It killed starlings all right, but it
killed chickens, turkeys, pigeons,
blue birds, sparrows and other kinds
of birds as well. So the corporation
gave up on that method"
Other methods that have proved
impracticable include use of poisoned
gas, once suggested in Washington
but disapproved by the Chemical
Warfare Service of the Agriculture
Department as too dangerous to man
and beast.
A high-ranking Army official once
proposed that powerful searchhghts
be used This, it was agreed, would
drive out starlings that the beam
could reach, but the problem of NOV
ing the big lights to reach the more
inaccessible roosts presented too
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