Black Vultures Roosting Near Barn

[4LeafCloverFarm]

@betonbill

…
Eventually they “mysteriously disappeared.”

Oh no! lol

As vultures/buzzards go, the black vulture is a “prettier” bird (I think) than the Turkey Vulture. But, yeah, probably not something you want hanging around in large numbers in the trees at Disney… especially since they are prone to aggression.

It seems odd to me that they are lumped in with all the other migrating birds (cranes, hummingbirds, etc.). That’s why you have to get the $100 permit - they are a protected species. But they are indigenous to South America I found in my reading, which was something else I did not know.

[clanter]

@betonbill

That reminds me of a story I heard about black vultures. Many years ago Disney World’s resort area became a large scale roosting place for black vultures. As one would imagine, this very large flock of birds did not fit the Disney image. Employees from their little zoo stepped in and tried everything they could think of to dissuade the birds, but they kept coming back. Eventually they “mysteriously disappeared.”

I do believe that the park received a fine/reprimand from Fish and Wildlife. It was also reported in the Orlando newspapers and was quite the scandal at the time.

that was in 1989…an the internet (until altered) does not forget:

A two-month investigation resulted in 16 state and federal charges filed against Disney and five of its employees last week - most dealing with the death of vultures which were crammed into a tiny, overheated shed for days with limited food and water

Disney ‘misunderstood’

Disney officials first blamed the incident on a misunderstanding surrounding the conditions of a federal permit that allowed the company to trap and relocate 100 black vultures. The vultures were pecking at park animals, bothering visitors and destroying vinyl seats and other park property.

72 vultures being kept for days in a windowless, airless shed legally big enough for only three; two workers breaking the legs and smashing the bodies of trapped vultures; workers trying to shoot hawks - Disney officials had no comment.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news…945-story.html

so, OP, get one (or more ) of those helium filled Mickey Mouse balloons then tether on the tree at their roosting height …that should take care of the problem

---

and Ringling Brothers gets slapped around until causing it to fold for taking care of its elephants… I guess PETA loves Mickey

[4LeafCloverFarm]

I tried searching for an article on Disney and the Vultures, but couldn’t find it. So you must be a much better search engine user than me @clanter . That’s a horrible way to treat the birds. I had just assumed they shot them all to make them “magically disappear”.

Not sure I’ll ever look at Disney the same way.

[clanter]

@4LeafCloverFarm

I tried searching for an article on Disney and the Vultures, but couldn’t find it. So you must be a much better search engine user than me @clanter . That’s a horrible way to treat the birds. I had just assumed they shot them all to make them “magically disappear”.

Not sure I’ll ever look at Disney the same way.

just have an older computer

One of things I did in college was spending a lot of time in library I got to where I could find most anything by asking a question in a different manor. Often there are multiple pathways and those who attempt to obscure something forget to lock the backdoor

[Tyrus_Mom]

@4LeafCloverFarm

I tried searching for an article on Disney and the Vultures, but couldn’t find it. So you must be a much better search engine user than me @clanter . That’s a horrible way to treat the birds. I had just assumed they shot them all to make them “magically disappear”.

Not sure I’ll ever look at Disney the same way.

After the alligator incident, I don’t think anyone does.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

Heckle and Jeckle have been no-shows now for several days. At first I thought maybe they finally got tired of the dogs being an annoyance. But I think maybe its the fact that our hackberry trees in the last 5 days have gone from fuzzy looking to full of leaves. With all those leaves on the tree, they don’t have much of a view down the slope of the hill we are on. And landing/takeoff for such a large bird must be difficult in a tree full of leaves vs. the tree being naked.

[RoughOut]

Congrats!!! I hope they moved on

I’m pretty sure TN Farm Bureau has a “permit” for members to use to kill three birds I believe . if you’re a member maybe you’d be able to get a hold of a dead one if Heckle and Jeckle come back

[4LeafCloverFarm]

Wow, that’s extraordinary @datdog. They were obviously quite tame, which seems rather odd behavior for a vulture. Always nice to have good interactions with nature.

Now, if I could just warm up to the giant snapping turtles we have! lol

[Simkie]

Wow, this is a really interesting thread. I had no idea there were vultures that ate live animals.

I hear those snapping turtles make great soup, @4LeafCloverFarm! :lol: :lol:

[4LeafCloverFarm]

@Simkie

I hear those snapping turtles make great soup, @4LeafCloverFarm! :lol: :lol:

:lol::lol::lol: Yuck! Bleh!

[betonbill]

Just wondering if those stories about black vultures eating live prey might be related to either just born and weak or dying babies or older but sick and dying animals. It might be that they were seen eating when the animals were still living, but definitely not in a healthy state. I know that some vultures seem to hang around waiting for an animal to die.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

I think it may be several factors, after reading so many articles. Many of the farm losses of young animals (just or recently born) were by mobs of the vultures - not one or two birds. Perhaps their aggression increases when there are many of them - or perhaps they are just hungrier, since they collectively need more to eat (as another poster suggested). There were numerous articles on how adult cows/sheep were killed in just ghastly ways by the vultures, while giving birth. At that point, the cow/sheep is weak I guess and can’t exactly fend off a bunch of very large birds - but those cows/sheep were not sick or dying at the time, and farmers have lost the calf and the cow both to the vultures.

The stories I have heard for years and years involved the occasional loss of a smaller cat or Yorkie-sized dog at the hands of black vulture(s). While Turkey Vultures are not known to ever attack a living being, my research recently has definitely confirmed that the Black Vulture will attack, kill and consume live prey. Why they actually demonstrate this behavior in certain circumstances is another matter.

[RoughOut]

They will absolutely take down a healthy live calf. One that is already up and walking.

I’m sure in a herd of cattle the associated placenta and what not might be black vulture snacks but they’ll kill a few week old calf.

[ecpolo]

Glad they have left. If they come back you could try my method of nicely aimed bottle rockets and/or one of those motion detecting deer abating sprinklers. You could rig the sprinkler to shoot towards their favorite branches the minute they land. The bottle rocket method is just more exciting.

[firefoot]

@betonbill

Just wondering if those stories about black vultures eating live prey might be related to either just born and weak or dying babies or older but sick and dying animals. It might be that they were seen eating when the animals were still living, but definitely not in a healthy state. I know that some vultures seem to hang around waiting for an animal to die.

Black vultures will hunt and kill chickens, at least. I have seen them pick a free range chicken from the yard, luckily not mine. Between the red tailed hawks and black vultures this year, my birds are on very restricted turnout

[Bluey]

Folks, free range chickens are like offering a free buffet to any and all out there.

Chickens are domesticated birds.
We bred and raise them to be what we use.
That doesn’t involve having a survival instinct to live in the wild.

That means it is OUR responsibility to care for them properly.
That means, keeping them safe, even if their ultimate purpose is to be eaten by us.

I think humans in general do better at caring for those we take as our responsibility, under animal husbandry principles, then nature itself does.
Nature doesn’t care, is survival of the fittest, at any cost to the individual that doesn’t measure up.

Part of that is to keep our chickens as safe as we can make them, even if we think they may be happier out there, taking their chances with wildlife, other domestic pets and maybe ending up as road kill, as free range chickens tend to do when loose, not being car smart.

By the way, the same applies to other animals we choose to live with and care for.

I don’t think we have black vultures around here, maybe because we have plenty of the turkey vultures around.
They fly on the mornings and mostly in the evening thermals raising from our canyons and are majestic birds, even if close up they look kind of bedraggled and yes, like vultures.
Here are some in this Woody Crumbo native artist painting:

https://www.artranked.com/topic/Woody+Crumbo#&gid=1&pid=29