Vultures are beautiful birds in flight as they sore in the sky riding the wind currents. Some people are repulsed by the job they do as undertakers, but it is so important. They don’t go around killing animals, but they can smell when one has been killed on the road or died on its own or been killed by a predator and abandoned for whatever reason. They can eat decaying flesh without harm.
On Saturday, June 13, on my way to church, I was sad to see that a roadkilled deer was lying beside the road. I noticed a vulture up in a tree. On my return from church, there was a vulture eating the carcass. It was near my lane, so I slowed down and passed in the lane going the opposite direction. It didn’t get scared. I got this idea to pull over and walk back to see how close I could get to get a nice picture of it.
All I had was my cell phone. I zoomed it in as far as it would go and then began the game of Green Light Red Light. He would be eating and that was the green light to take some steps. If he stopped to look up at me, it was a red light and I stopped. Then, he would go back to eating and it was a green light to sneak closer. All animals have a flight distance which determines how close they will let a potential predator come before they flee the scene. I figured I could get as least as close as the cars driving by in the other lane. I wonder what this cautious bird thought of me in my long pink skirt and white top holding a cell phone and walking closer and closer to him. He was suspicious and kept looking at me.
At first, I didn’t notice that there were two other vultures in the trees off to the left. They had already eaten. What was really nice to see was one spread its wings in what is called the horaltic pose. It seems that they just like to soak up some good sunshine, but they also do this to kill the bacteria that has accumulated on their wings from eating a decaying animal. Once the vulture did fly, I got closer to the deer and I can attest to the fact that it was decaying. It already had a strong smell! It was time to head back to my truck to get away from the smell and let the vulture return to its meal.
