Ghost of Midnight

… about neighbors, community and Front Porch Forum

Turkey buzzards monitoring Middlebury FPF?

Posted on Friday, May 8, 2015 by No comments yet

“Lately on Chipman Hill we have seen several very large vultures… We have two small dogs and these predatory birds seemed very interested in them when I let them out yesterday. One of our dogs is an elderly, white Bichon, which must resemble a rabbit-like meal to these birds. They immediately left their perch in our neighbor’s tree (there were 5 of them!) and began circling overhead our dogs. I ran out and made lots of noise to scare them off and quickly got our dogs back inside. Beware of these birds in the area, especially if you have small pets outdoors. They are quite large with a 6-7 ft wingspan.”
• Thomas, Middlebury Front Porch Forum

“Unless your dog dies while a vulture is circling overhead, you don’t really need to worry; they only eat carrion. I’m pretty sure they don’t attack animals, like hawks or eagles.”
• Leigh, Middlebury FPF

“… Enjoy them. They are gentle giants who clean up roadkill and carcasses.”
• Kerry, Middlebury FPF

“… Any circling above dogs is most likely coincidental and has more to do with them finding a nice updraft than thoughts of a potential meal.”
• Ron, Middlebury FPF

“Thank you to everyone who responded to my post… I am not a bird expert so I wasn’t totally sure they were vultures and found their behavior a bit confusing when they left their perches to circle over our dogs. I haven’t seen them since my original posting (maybe they’re on FPF too).”
• Thomas, Middlebury FPF

“Ornithology expertise be damned – I don’t think we can be too careful when it comes to vultures. When I’m out for a run and see them circling overhead, I always try to speed up a bit. Just in case.”
• Barbara, Middlebury FPF

“Old cow died
Little cat cried
Buzzard, he laughed, took a pain in his side.
• American folk song
In the 1950s, when I was a young kid, we lived in Virginia for three years. Turkey buzzards were one of the disagreeable things that I was glad weren’t in Vermont when we moved back. Like possums and ticks. We’ve gotten all three–maybe we’ll have mulberries and persimmons some day, too.”
• Ed, Middlbury FPF

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