‘It Was Pretty Scary’: Hordes Of Vultures Taking Over South Jersey Town

Philadelphia CBS ^ | March 8, 2019 | Cleve Bryan

[RedMonqey]

Menacing-looking vultures are taking over a town in South Jersey and residents want them to buzz off. Hordes of vultures have been hanging around in Mount Holly. Residents want them gone but not everybody feels that way as environmentalists say the vultures are an important part of the ecosystem.

[RedMonqey]

Yep. They’re like large turkeys.

And everytime they are startled or lift off, the lose their “payload”

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Vultures don’t come in “hordes.” Sheesh.

Vultures come in kettles, committees or wakes
* “Kettle” refers to vultures in flight
* “Committee” refers to vultures resting on the ground or in trees
* “Wake” is a group of vultures that are feeding

How many other birds have THREE names for groups in various activities?

My favorite is a “squadron of pelicans.”

Actually, these vulture terms sound apropos for Democrats. They are always feeding on us; they are always flying off on junkets; and they are always resting.

[RedMonqey]

We wish!

[RedMonqey]

"Vultures don’t come in “hordes.” Sheesh.”

Yep!

But we're not suppose to edit the headlines of stories we're posting here.

[Tired of Taxes]

This whole area has always had lots of turkey vultures, at least as long as I’ve been here. (Not to mention wild turkeys, too.)

[Lurkinanloomin]

You wouldn’t need to hit any of them.
They’d leave.

[matthew fuller]

I shot and killed a squirrel last week, out behind my house in a field. A couple of days later, there were at least 10 buzzards flying around the carcass- and one eating it.

[JPG]

Very sociable birds that love to hang out together while preforming a needed service of keeping things free of diseased carrion.

[NurdlyPeon]

environmentalists say the vultures are an important part of the ecosystem

"Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms" - Josey Wales

[FreeReign]

Menacing-looking vultures...

Menacing vultures?

On my street, I saw five vultures surround a dead rabbit. As they stood there looking at each other, along came a single crow who swooped in and grabbed the carcas. The vultures did absolutely nothing to stop the crow.

Dumb wimpy vultures.

[Paal Gulli]

Your average adult buzzard weighs about four pounds. How frightening are we supposed to believe they could be?

And FWIW, the buzzards come to Hinkley, Ohio en masse about this time ever year (the same day the swallows com back to Capistrano).

[mozarky2]

There’s about a 2-3 acre grove of trees on the grounds of my workplace. As it was getting dark one evening, I saw about 200 vultures circling the grove and landing. There’s a loop drive through the grove, and everything was covered in buzzard poop!

[Lurker]

“Committee” refers to vultures resting on the ground or in trees”

Or in a Congressional Hearing.

L

[metmom]

The vultures are republicans and the crow is the democrat.

That was easy.

[RedMonqey]

So, what are they eating? If there isn’t a lot of carrion around”


Roadkill? Retirement home overbooking? Government cheese?

(Snicker, snicker)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Yr meme Crows and Vultures....

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Vulture Fun Facts

• Black and Turkey Vultures are scavengers and feed primarily on carrion. Vultures are part of nature’s clean-up crew. They rid the landscape of deteriorating carcasses and help curb the spread of dangerous diseases and bacteria. Their stomachs have strong enzymes that kill off dangerous toxins and microorganisms.
• Vultures lack the powerful feet that are characteristic of other raptors like eagles and hawks. They have long toes with blunted talons, which are easier for walking. Turkey Vultures will often place one or both feet on their food when eating; Black Vultures typically do not use their feet when feeding.
• Vultures have long, hooked bills that are designed for tearing pieces of food. Vultures lack feathers on their heads so that they can more easily keep themselves clean when eating. Vultures will often insert their head completely inside the carcass they are cleaning up.
• Vultures sustain flight for long periods without flapping their wings. They take advantage of updrafts produced when the wind blows over hills and mountain ridges or make use of rising columns of warm air called "thermals." You rarely see a vulture in the air flapping its wings.
• Unlike Turkey Vultures, Black Vultures lack a highly developed sense of smell and so cannot find carrion by scent alone. However, they exploit the superior food-finding skills of Turkey Vultures by following them to carcasses and then displacing them from the food. The sight of one vulture descending to a carcass draws others from over a large area and dozens may assemble at a single carcass.
• The legs of vultures are usually coated white, due to the dried uric acid of their excrement. Vultures will mute – excrete waste – onto their legs, serving two different purposes:
• In warm weather, muting on their legs serves as part of their thermoregulation – it helps to cool down their body temperature.
• When vultures step into a carcass, touching possibly contaminated flesh, they risk tracking bacteria around on their legs. The vultures will excrete onto their legs, and the highly acidic uric acids kill off bacteria and toxins that may be on the bird’s legs.
• In the early mornings, vultures often will sit with their wings spread wide, increasing the surface area of their bodies so that the sun can more easily warm them. This is called the “horaltic pose”.
• Black Vultures are “family-oriented” birds – they feed their young for up to eight months after their young have fledged and often stay together in family groups.
• Vultures lack a voice box; their vocalizations include rasping hisses and grunts.
• According to All About Birds, "The word 'vulture' likely comes from the Latin vellere, which means to pluck or tear. [The Turkey Vulture's] scientific name, Cathartes aura, is far more pleasant. It means either 'golden purifier' or 'purifying breeze'."
• Vultures can live to be 25 years old.
• Unlike most bird species, Turkey Vultures rely on their sense of smell to find prey. Black Vultures rely on sight.
• Vultures were once regarded as largely beneficial and were well-tolerated in human-populated areas. A negative attitude toward these scavengers was developed in the early 1900s when people became concerned that vultures might increase the spread of disease, despite strong evidence to the contrary.

[bgill]

Shotguns. My first thought, too. If they’re anti-gun libs, then every day at noon and five pm, everyone honk their horns on their little electric cars.

[RedMonqey]

"Menacing vultures?”


We're talking about 'suburbanites".

To them, even a rabbit is "menacing' to them. We're lucky they are not calling 911 every hour, on the hour.

I would think New Yorkers would shrug their shoulders and say "I've seen bigger rats than that in my neighborhood"

[ladyjane]

This is nothing even close to liberal vultures taking over towns in South Carolina.