Thousands of Birds Put Family in 'Fowl' Situation

By Colleen Chen, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thousands of egret birds have chosen to make a Moore family's neighborhood home. It's led to a nauseating stench that Audra and Lee Rowell said makes it hard for them to breathe.

"I didn't know anything could smell that bad. I've never smelled anything like that," Audra Rowell said.

The birds' droppings are so thick that they will eventually kill the trees. In addition to droppings, the birds are making a mess with feathers and carcasses of ones who die.

The couple has tried scaring the birds off with loud noises but have not had any luck. Trying to scare the birds is all the Rowells can do because the birds are federally protected.

"They're migratory and so this site, the nests, their eggs, the birds themselves are all protected," said State Director Of Wildlife Services Kevin Grant.

Grant said even if you had the means to scare them off, the birds are too attached to the area because of the nesting season.

"It looks like winter in the middle of summer, and the white is not snow," Grant added.

There are health concerns because the filthy environment can be a breeding ground for a fungus that causes respiratory problems.

"It's bad. Really, really bad if you have to live in it day in and day out. It's bad," Lee Rowell said.

Grant said the egrets will stay until the fall and will try to come back next year. He said the best thing to keep it from happening again is to clear out the forest during the winter months.

"I may be hunting me a new place to move," Lee Rowell said.