Clear and Clean Catawba, By Alice Battle – June 30, 2012
A familiar sight in the sky is a large black bird soaring
high above the trees. Often there is more than one. They are vultures, and they are hunting for
carrion.
When a meal is sighted, several vultures gather for
dinner. A deer carcass will attract as
many as 50 to 75 vultures. They take
turns eating. It does not take them long
to eat the flesh. When they leave all
that is left is the bones.
Several years ago a large group was hanging around the power
lines near our house. That many do not
stay unless there is food. What
attracted them were fish parts left by fishermen who were net fishing. The people cleaned the fish on the
beach. The remains provided a feast for
the vultures. They resembled sentries sitting on the power lines, looking down.
I have watched a group of vultures tear apart a fish carcass
on the beach in a matter of minutes. All
that is left are the bones.
My son was sitting on the back porch when a vulture swooped
down and picked up a dead bird that was lying in the yard. Our backyard has a lot of trees. How did that vulture spot such a small object
from the sky? Their eyesight must be far
sharper than the human eye.
The excrement from these birds is strong enough to corrode a
metal roof. Luckily they do not stick
around unless there is a meal nearby. No
carrion is left for long when a vulture is around.
About Alice Battle – Alice lives
on Mountain Island Lake has served on numerous groups devoted to protecting the
lake, including the Duke Energy Relicensing stakeholders group. She currently
is Lakekeeper for the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation.
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