'They Leave When They Want To': Flock Of California Condors Trash Kern County Home
TEHACHAPI (CBSLA) — A Tehachapi woman is relieved after more than a dozen California condors that trashed her deck are now perched in a nearby tree.
California condors are an endangered species, with just about 160 of them flying free. But for whatever reason, 15 to 20 of them decided to make themselves comfortable on Cinda Mickols' deck last weekend.
The large birds, which each sported a colorful tracking tag, left large splotches of bird feces all over the deck, knocked over at least one barrel planter, and tore up the covering the homme's air conditioner unit. The damage was documented by her daughter, whose tweet went viral.
Mickols, who had been away, came home to find at least a dozen on her deck and several more on her roof.
"They pretty well trashed my deck. They made a mess of things," she said. "I shooed them away, which I'm allowed to do because they're an endangered species, but, how do you get rid of a 25-pound, nine-and-a-half-foot wing span bird? They leave when they want to."
Mickols says she's used to living alongside wild animals because she often gets elk and deer on her property – but she never expected condors.
After the condors went rock star on her deck, Mickols says they have since moved to a nearby tree.
