Tom,
The vulture stories do indeed seem too dire to be true, but there
may be a kernel or two there. In Virginia, Black Vultures can be pretty
mean characters and there are perenniel reports of peoples' small pets
being attacked and of lawn furniture and the vynal roofs of cars being
demolished (!) Turkey Vultures seem to have a less blemished
character... As I recall there was a write-up in the Wall Street Journal
about a year ago on the Black Vulture hazard in South Boston, Virginia.

On Sun, 9 Apr 1995, Tom Foote wrote:

>
> There's an amazing story in the Sunday Olympian here about the attack of
> a large number of vultures on live prey..particularly, new born calves.
> the only thing I can figure is there must be lots of after-birth and
> smelly attractants. The story is difficult to believe with phrases like..
> "I've counted about 100 going at a cow,"said Frizzell, who has had 10
> calves killed this year by the bald-headed, flesh-eating
> birds...Frizzell and other farmers..are plagued by what wildlife
> officials are calling one of the largest flocks of vultures ever seen east
> of the Mississippi River. Between 1500 and 3000 of the migratory birds
> nest in a thicket at the nearby Radford Army Ammunition Plant and spend
> their days preying on animals. Farmers estimate..vultures have killed
> more than 90 animals in the last three months..shooting a black vulture
> can bring a fine of $5,000 and 6 months in jail..farmers have taken to
> driving their tractors at full speed at the vultures closing in on
> cattle. Others have set off fireworks, thrown rocks at birds and fired
> shotguns filled with blanks..
>
> This story really looks like some kind of urban legend. Anybody ever
> hear of this behavior in vultures before? (excuse me if this is an old
> thread..I'd just not seen this information in print before)
>
> Tom
>
> Tom Foote footet at elwha.evergreen.edu
> The Evergreen State College 866-6000 x6118
> Olympia, WA 98505
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