Eating Like Vultures

Somehow in our quest for the organic mesclun and the non-GMO corn chowder, we forget just how the food chain was designed to function. Certainly, we aren't going to learn that from our friends in the agri-business and while it may be their intention to keep us less than mindful of the source of our food, it may be our own choice to deny ourselves knowledge of what has to be sacrified in order for us to eat. Recently, a few black Turkey vultures (and I'm sorry to all the orthinologists out there, these guys are as ugly as sin) provided a helpful reminder of food chain politics. 

I've posted before about our neighbor and his McMansion with the gothic fence (spires galore). One of the fence victims, a young deer who probably found his way in but not out of the yard, died in the snow just beyond the fence. I became aware of this when our dogs went into a frenzy on our side of the fence, probably smelling the still living deer in the final hours of his trauma. The next morning I awoke to a bewildering site, at least for our normally contained, suburban lives: a flock of vultures had settled all around the deer. They were on the ground, in the trees and some where sitting in the snow at a distance from the others. These guys are big AND ugly. When you have these types of birds just 30 feet or so away from your door and in these kinds of numbers, you begin to question your own sanity. When you approach them, they throttle their wings in giants gulps of air in order to move away quickly. The affect this creates is a deep whoosing sound while a dark shadow moves about you, much, much too close for comfort. I noticed that we have a natural instinct to cover our heads with our arms (my sons, myself). this leads me to think that we have programmed into our genetic history a technique for dealing with vulturous birds swooping down on us. Grrreat. Sorry to have missed that wonderful times. 

For two days, the vulture pack lived in and about our yard while they fought over and plundered the dead deer. Young vultures (still had the white heads) had to wait in line for the big, agressive red-headed ones to be done before they could get their share. And among the big ones, there was constant bickering. One particular bully kept the others at bay while he feasted. Hate to use such a bad pun but even in the vulture world, there is a pecking order. Most everyone I mentioned this to was horrified. Vultures in the yard? Eating meet off the bones of a deer carcass? Swooping about whenever you stepped outside? Yes, yes and yes. Sure, it's a horrible site. And yet, that's how it works. Animals die. However timely or untimely their deaths may be, other animals feast upon their flesh. Thank you, turkey vultures, for this valuable reminder (and could you please move along now? Thanks.)