Thankful for Vultures

Living with a small woods behind my house, I often see a wide variety of visitors of the furry, feathery, and scaly kind traveling through the yard, so not much surprises me.  But for my daughter, many of these visitors are new to her.  So far, she has been excited about every one we’ve had, and we’ve enjoyed each learning experience they bring.  But today, I was a little concerned about several visitors that were arriving as I returned home from dropping my daughter off at preschool.  Luckily, she wasn’t with me when I first arrived home, because I was worried what I might find in the backyard.  You see, today’s visitors were black vultures (Coragyps atratus).

Black vultures have visited my neighborhood many times as clean-up crews along the roadside; but today, they were circling my house and landing in my backyard trees.  If my daughter had been with me, she might have been uneasy about these enormous flying birds landing behind our house.  After all, they are about two feet in length resting in the trees with wing spans of almost five feet long.  And then there was the probable cause of why vultures were in my backyard.  There must be something dead back there somewhere!  And let’s not forget the conversation that would inspire as well. 

Vulture Taking Off from a Tree as I Tried to Take a Picture.

Since I didn’t have my daughter with me, I decided to investigate.  Unfortunately, as soon as I opened the back door, the vultures took off from my trees to find a more private setting in the woods.  I walked to the back of the yard with hopes of getting a good picture of these interesting birds, but I was out of luck.  Black vultures actually have excellent eye-site and hunt by site; unlike turkey vultures (Cathartes aura), who hunt primarily by smell.  The black vultures easily saw me and one-by-one flew away each time I pointed my camera at them.  

However, as I was walking, I heard the loud buzzing of several large flies.  I stopped in my tracks, thinking the dead animal was just on the other side of the fence.  Then, I was reassured of its location with a not so pleasant aroma drifting in a gentle breeze.  As I followed the sound of the flies, I found the barely recognizable carrion.  It was actually a fish that must have dropped from another bird of prey’s talons while in flight (since the fish couldn’t have gotten there on its own).  I was actually relieved it was a fish and not the usual warm and fuzzy animal I normally see on the side of the road surrounded by vultures.  So there the fish will stay until the clean-up crew comes back for it.  And if my daughter happens to be home when the vultures come back, I can honestly say, “They are just eating fish!”

Death has been a subject I’ve avoided with my child, like most parents do I suppose.  It is natural, but it’s not something I want her to worry about right now (Although she probably knows more than I want her to know since she can hardly watch a Disney movie without someone dying in it.).  As I think about how I will approach the subject of death someday with my daughter, I hope it will be in a natural setting and maybe even with vultures.  After all, they are immediate natural recyclers that demonstrate an important and necessary part of the cycle of life.  I’m thankful to have them!