Turkey Vulture

Wondering if red-necked California turkey vultures (aka buzzards) will soon be as frequently seen on Northern California streets as geese and turkeys.

This eagle-eyed, keen-smelling turkey vulture, feasting on a road-killed squirrel in downtown Redding, CA, didn’t mind The Idiot joining it for lunch. It could be a tremendous boost to Redding’s disrupted ecosystem because “by eating carrion, vultures prevent the spread of rabies, botulism, anthrax, cholera, and more.” There’s a lot of “more” in Redding.

The Idiot has been admiring and studying the habits of scavenging birds since he was a kid. But this is the closest he’s gotten to a usually skittish live and feeding turkey vulture in 71 years. He was taught that “if harassed, turkey vultures can projectile vomit to deter a potential danger or predator” but this bird wanted to party.

(Photos: Joel Stratte-McClure and Sonia Stratte-McClure)

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Posted on December 27, 2019 by Joel in Food, Idiotic Musings, Style, Travel, Turkey, USA, Weather, Where is the idiot

About Joel

Joel Stratte-McClure has been a global trekker since the 1970s. He lived in France for over 30 years, working as a journalist, before he turned his attention to a unique life-time-project of walking the shores of the Mediterranean. The first 4,401 kilometers are explored in his inspirational and entertaining first book "The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean." The next 4,401 kilometers are covered in the gods-filled sequel, "The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean,” published on Valentine's Day 2013. The last 4,401 kilometers will be discussed in the last book of the trilogy currently entitled "The Idiot and the Odyssey III: Alexander the Great Walks the Mediterranean."

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