Will These Guys Hurt My Babies?

[woodmort]

Not unless they're dead first.

 

[TreeHugger]

There are a group of vultures in my area that roost in the neighbors old barn. They are constantly on "patrol" and I've never seen them go after anything that was alive.

 

[Pinky]

Quote:
They don't bother the hawks around here, many times i see the hawks flying with them.

Didn't mean they chase them away, I just don't see the hawks flying around when the vulture do.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Black vultures will go after live prey, although they do prefer carrion. Turkey vultures have to be really hungry to go after live prey. Look them up on whatbird.com for detailed information on each species.

 

[desertdarlene]

Quote:
This is very true. Black vultures have been known to go after live prey, but usually it's prey that is weakened of vulnerable (such as a newborn lamb or a weak baby chick). They rarely put much effort into catching something, so if it's healthy and fast, they would probably leave it alone. Still, I would watch them to make sure.

Edited due to oops, typo!

 

[woodmort]

Just don't lay out on the lawn sunbathing and take a nap.

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

Vultures are extremely common around my parts, I can easily head into the woods and spot 4-5 in-use nests, and many abandoned ones. Also with the booming squirrel population, there's a lot of road kill, and a lot of them along the roads. Nothing has time to get smelly with all the ones around these parts. The two species are here, but with the turkey vultures more common than the black vultures, though the latter is still relatively. I started "yard-ranging" mine at 7 weeks, and nothing but a hawk has bothered them since.

 

[Pinky]

Quote:

 

[dewey]

Quote:
This cracked me up when I read it because of what I'd been recalling about vultures.

As a young teen I took a day at the lake with friends. When we got there, all stoked for a day of fun in the water, it was pretty much just soggy ground with no water...it had been drained...we decided to make the best of it any way after the long drive and decided to lay out on the car hood to sunbathe. After a while we were half dozing in the heat, then woke fully to Hotel California playing on the radio...and gradually focused on strange shadows against the sunny sky only to realize that vultures had began circling us. We packed up and left for friendlier ground.

I think some vultures will go after live prey if given the right opportunity. I know at least 2 girls who will always believe that.

 

[babalubird]

We have lots of vultures in our area. We refer to them as "the clean-up crew." They take care of the road kill.