Tennessee Vultures
Okay, I'm used to pigeons and crows scavenging in Providence. But giant carrion birds outside my front door, eating smooshed squirrels--!?! I'm sorry, this is why cities were invented.
Any WU readers have such birds as their immediate neighbors?
Comments
When I was in the suburbs of Houston this summer I saw a possum in the road playing dead. I figured that it was pretty stupid to play dead in the middle of the road, and sure enough when I came back that way later in the day the possum was actually dead, having been dragged to a driveway by buzzards the size of dogs. I would hate to be the family heading out to an amusement park and finding giant birds eating a dead possum on the driveway...
Posted by Salamander Sam in Chicago on 10/04/09 at 02:47 PM
ah spring! the blue jays, the cardinals and of course the buzzards. how lovely. :gulp:
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 10/04/09 at 07:38 PM
harmless but very ugly. also carrion eaters are generally kinda gross.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 10/04/09 at 09:11 PM
true enough roland. i think they do their job wonderfully just that they aren't as pretty as, say... cardinals or hummingbirds. maggots do the same basic job on a smaller scale and that's great too, but butterflies are prettier.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 10/04/09 at 11:18 PM
some of us (as evidenced by paul's remark below the clip) don't see these birds where we live. the largest thing i've ever seen eating road kill is crows. so seeing these large birds congregated in the middle of the road pulling apart a dead squirrel is a little different. perhaps i should describe in detail some of the wounds i've seen when i was a nurse aide, just to see where your 'ewww' level is bb. 😉
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 10/05/09 at 01:48 AM
EEEEEEEeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww
Damn! That was fun! :coolsmile:
Damn! That was fun! :coolsmile:
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 10/05/09 at 08:48 AM
It just goes to show that our laws in Tennessee don't discriminate: even the birds are legally allowed to eat the roadkill.
Posted by jswolf19 in Japan on 10/05/09 at 09:25 AM
We have a ton of those in Pinellas County, despite being the county with the most people per square mile in FL. But to really see some action, you'd have to check out Alexander Springs, Fl. These beasties run after small children in the picnic area, open up coolers, backpacks, and occasionally cans.
All in all, they're pretty cool though.
All in all, they're pretty cool though.
Posted by RazzleCap in Clearwater on 10/05/09 at 08:25 PM
sounds like they are pretty smart for just having a little bird brain raz.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 10/05/09 at 09:34 PM
DANG!!! We just missed the big event!
http://ag.arizona.edu/BTA/events/buzzards.html
http://ag.arizona.edu/BTA/events/buzzards.html
Posted by desertratz on 10/06/09 at 10:53 AM
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Category: Animals | Death | Regionalism | North America