~Vulture Sucking Tree~

[havalotta]

There sure are. Are you feeding them?

[EllenW]

Someone on facebook said that I must have a lot of dead animals around. I read that they are attracted to water. They were always in the horses water trough until I got a deeper one. There is still a lot of water around the trough and barn. I feed them but not very often. One time I gave them a block of freezerburned cheese. They loved that.

[Sage]

One day we saw vultures circling over an old folks home. I asked my wildlife biologist friend if vultures could smell death. She said "yes"

[Equilibrium]

Sage> GORGEOUS buzzard photo!!!
--
ww> "...tis against the federal laws to shoot or kill vultures." I know.... I know. I used to call in when I'd hear shots fired but.... we don't have any local cops left and there's no point calling shots into the county. Their response time isn't the greatest....
--
EW> you've got yourself some Bee U tee ful buzzards!!! Man oh man I just love vultures.

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by EllenW

vultures vultures everywhere

You sure do seem to get your fair share of vultures!

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by Sage

One day we saw vultures circling over an old folks home. I asked my wildlife biologist friend if vultures could smell death. She said "yes"

~shudder~

They can surely smell dead animals, but can they smell impending death?

[Equilibrium]

I've noticed at some nursing homes with gated gardens and outdoor living spaces... especially those with memory care units.... that some of the residents forget what to do with their meals and snacks when they're not in the dining area watching others eating. They mean to eat their food but sometimes they "forget" what they were supposed to do with it so they'll tuck it away in their slippers or up their sleeves or under their lap blankets or if there's no place to stash food.... they'll flat out toss their food to butterflies and birds to eat. Anywhooo.... vultures have a pretty good sense of smell and I know they've got decent vision so they probably do "smell" and "see" impending death but.... more than likely the residents have been unwittingly tossing out their cheeseburgers and beef stews to the pretty black birds circling above. Sometimes when you move a wheel chair.... food that's been stashed will hit the ground and buzzards.... like any other animal.... are always looking for a free handout. This could be a text book Pavlovian deal here.... they're hanging around because they've been "rewarded" with freebies in the past.

[dapjwy]

Interesting theory, Lib. I like how you think.

[Equilibrium]

The nursing home and assisted living center where I volunteer has a land fill not even a mile from it. The vultures are in the area. They hang out on some wooded land near by and although they "scope" out the surrounding area for carrion.... they do always come back to that land fill because that's where the 24 hour buffet is. Soon as they migrate back in spring.... I can find them hanging out in that area and.... the grounds keepers at the nursing home and assisted living center rarely have to pick up food from residents so something's eating it and it's not cats or coons or possums since they're actively trapping for all of those.

[EllenW]

A black vulture was trying to get a drink from a pool of water that was frozen over this morning. I got my hammer and broke the ice so it could drink. It flew to my house roof. I'm sure it got a drink later along with it's buddies.