BajaNomad

Turkey Vultures

mooose29 - 6-9-2015 at 04:13 PM

So we have all heard about cows on the road a having to slow down and be careful but here is a warning for all us Baja drivers about the Turkey Vulture.

We have all probably passed 1000's of turkey vultures on the side of the road eating road kill a couple days ago my parents were driving north from Punta Chivato and were just north of Alfonsina's when they came upon (what do you call a group of vultures anyway (flock)?) eating something on the side of the road. Dad slows down although the birds were well off to the side. As he gets close to the birds they take off to the right and into the desert however one Darwin award winner decided to take off low and left and flew right into the front of the suburban.

Bam it was a huge hit and he was worried it had broken stuff in the front of the suburban. Stop get out and look and everything is intact and all is good nothing leaking or broken.

Fast forward a couple of hours and he is in line at the border and the suburban for the first time ever starts overheating in line, get out open the hood check the coolant and all looks normal, WTF gets the car cooled down crosses and all is normal.

Takes car to our mechanic today and the impact broke the lower part of the radiator apparently there are some plastic parts in there that break easily with hard hits and got smashed in and because the top part was not damaged it still looked like the radiator was full of fluid in the reservoir when he checked it but all the fluid in the lower half drained out while driving.

certainly an expensive hit.

ehall - 6-9-2015 at 07:11 PM

Not to mention the smell of buzzard cooking

bajabuddha - 6-9-2015 at 09:46 PM

Whatever it was cooking, I DON'T want the recipe... :(

Skipjack Joe - 6-9-2015 at 10:47 PM

Was the bird all right?

redhilltown - 6-9-2015 at 11:17 PM

You DID perform CPR? Right???????

vandenberg - 6-10-2015 at 06:31 AM

A comedian contest.:?::o

mooose29 - 6-10-2015 at 08:42 PM

When I told my 15 year old son he asked if the bird was stuck under the hood of Grandpas car. He wanted to see some cooked vulture

bajabuddha - 6-10-2015 at 09:14 PM

All seriousness aside;

Turkey vultures are amazing creatures to watch fly and see at a distance; up close and personal they're ugly than my first mother-in-law. Keep in mind they feed primarily on carrion... and most carrion when alive have ticks, fleas, etc. upon their bodies, and are still present when the host dies. Those big black gutt-suckers are covered in them, not to mention every possible bad bacteria from..... need I say more? They're best viewed at a distance. Part of nature? Yes. Essential part? Yes, again. Close to my house? NO. I never killed one, but I've popped a few in the fanny with my BB gun if their daily roost was within range; they got the hint. Just 'noodged' them a little.

Hope one day to see a Condor; I hear they taste like chicken...... ;)

Pompano - 6-16-2015 at 10:02 AM


The Day a Buzzard Creamed Us..

A little late, but I finally remembered this experience about a turkey vulture.


How many times have you wondered if that bunch of buzzards up ahead of you on the highway will get out of the way in time?




This was that fateful day the roadkill-eating buzzard creamed us on the highway near Santispac, Bay of Conception. We were going a mite too fast for the overloaded bird to flap out of the way...and he came right between us and splatted into the gas tank behind our heads...losing part of his roadside lunch that you can see stuck to the tank! Yecchh!



So the next time you see that group of buzzards feeding on roadkill up ahead...use a little caution and slow down! Some are a little slower than others!

By the way, that buzzard survived this episode....we turned around and the dazed bird just hopped into the air and flapped away! Tough critter!


p.s. Hope I am not ruining anyone's breakfast or lunch?

durrelllrobert - 6-16-2015 at 11:09 AM

Quote: Originally posted by bajabuddha  
All seriousness aside;

Turkey vultures are amazing creatures to watch fly and see at a distance; up close and personal they're ugly than my first mother-in-law. Keep in mind they feed primarily on carrion... and most carrion when alive have ticks, fleas, etc. upon their bodies, and are still present when the host dies. Those big black gutt-suckers are covered in them, not to mention every possible bad bacteria from..... need I say more? They're best viewed at a distance. Part of nature? Yes. Essential part? Yes, again. Close to my house? NO. I never killed one, but I've popped a few in the fanny with my BB gun if their daily roost was within range; they got the hint. Just 'noodged' them a little.

Hope one day to see a Condor; I hear they taste like chicken...... ;)

Last time i had one I thought it tasted more like a Spoted Owl:biggrin:

StuckSucks - 6-16-2015 at 12:31 PM

North of Mulege, early morning:

bajagrouper - 6-16-2015 at 06:30 PM

A "venue", from the Turkey Vulture Society :

A group of vultures is called a “Venue”. Vultures circling on thermals of hot air are also referred to as a “Kettle”, because they resemble the rising bubbles in a boiling pot of water.

woody with a view - 6-16-2015 at 06:44 PM

Quote: Originally posted by bajagrouper  
Vultures circling on thermals of hot air are also referred to as a “Kettle”, because they resemble the rising bubbles in a boiling pot of water.


the same group of hallucinogen filled geniuses that named the constellations, eh?

[Edited on 6-17-2015 by woody with a view]

mooose29 - 6-16-2015 at 10:37 PM

The turkey vulture society? Man there is a group for everything. I figured the group was called something g as it seems like each group has it's own name for the group.

bajabuddha - 6-16-2015 at 10:59 PM

Great picture, Stux.......... as I said, beautiful, at a distance.

Have to share a story. Once-upon-a-time, we put in to do a river run of Westwater Canyon of the Colorado river. About 3 miles downstream from the put-in on the right bank were a large gathering of both wild turkeys and turkey vultures all intermingling along the cobble-banks, picking bugs and such, no segregation, no hassles. Must have been two dozen of each at least.

I thought, "No wonder they're called 'Turkey Vultures!". Of course, no camera handy. Another magnificent Nature Moment.

CaboSur - 6-17-2015 at 11:20 AM

Guess we all have similar photos... near Zacatitos




No dinner date for this guy

durrelllrobert - 6-17-2015 at 04:31 PM

¿Por qué tengo que cenar solo?