Posted on 05/04/2013 2:55:04 PM PDT by Third Person
A campaign against Griffon vultures is gathering pace in France after it was revealed that the carrion eaters had devoured the body of a 52-year-old woman who fell to her death in the Pyrenees.
Major Didier Pericou of the gendarmerie said the woman had fallen down a 300-metre slope while taking a short cut walking with two friends.
"There were only bones, clothes and shoes left," he told The Times.
"They took 45 to 50 minutes to eat the body."
French farmers are now demanding the right to shoot the protected birds after attacks on sheep and cows.
The birds no longer have their diet of carcasses because European health and safety regulations now force breeders to burn dead animals.
The Pyrenees population of Griffon vultures has apparently been affected by an EC ruling that due to danger of BSE transmission, no dead animals must be left on the fields.
This has critically lowered the food availability of the scavenging birds.
Like other vultures, the Griffon is a scavenger, feeding mostly on carcasses of dead animals which it finds by soaring over open areas, often moving in flocks. The maximum lifespan recorded for a specimen kept in captivity is 41.4 years.
Fear of vultures has been growing in recent years. Le Nouvel Observateur reports of 'mutant vultures', with one woman saying that a group of the birds, whose wingspans can exceed seven feet, hovered near to where her children were sitting.
One farmer, Alain Larralde, reported seeing a group of vultures attack and start eating an adult cow. There have also been alleged sightings of live animals being carried off.
"You can't imagine what it is like to see an animal eaten alive," Mr Larralde was reported to have said.
Over the past few months, there have been 42 claims for compensation from farmers who say they have had livestock taken by the birds.
The vultures, which have evolved to eat carrion and not tackle live prey, may have changed their habits due to starvation.
According to a New Scientist report, there have been cases of vultures grabbing the bodies of shot animals before the hunters can reach them.
"We are seeing three-figure vulture flocks over Belgium and Holland. These birds are fanning out across Europe in search of food," Grahame Madge, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds' European bird of prey expert told the Mail.
Small elderly French woman,...about the size of,...say a large goat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XafAdkZIYKA
Smart birds.
“Hey, vultures gotta eat too. Why not train them to eat liberals, or would that poison them?”
No, they’d just become fat and lazy and expect other flocks to provide for them.
The carrion luggage was long gone....
52 is elderly???
Just let me know where you are; I'll come and kick your ass!
“We don’t need no steeenkin sauce!”
Birds doing what Frenchmen refuse to do.
I recall a thread not too long ago about a vulture shortage that was impacting the Zoroastrian religion.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2935516/posts
Freegards
“52 is elderly???
Just let me know where you are; I’ll come and kick your ass!”
==
Ditto,and then some. My oldest child is 52.
.
Can you send some of these birds to Worcester, Massghanistan to solve a little Muzzie body problem there?
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130504/NEWS/105049974/1116
If only the Germans would attack France again, the vultures would have plenty to eat.
Heck, to a teen, 22 is elderly...
If only the vultures could speak they’s tell us it tasted like... chicken!
My neighbor lost a visitor’s little dog to a very large hawk.
Thanks Third Person. She took a shortcut, and fell 300 meters into a gorge. Pretty sure she didn’t notice the Griffon vultures having her as the main course.
In a way, the woman was lucky. Some of us are being devoured by vultures while still alive!
The vultures serve a useful purpose - French cooking schools use them as testers .... if the vultures won’t eat it, then a large portion of the French people won’t eat it.
Hmmmm. Interesting. I'll have suggest this as a stage name to the lead singer of my punk rock group!
I prefer the multicultural name of Mecca Leka Heino Heiney Ho.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.