Sympathy for the vulture

It’s not uncommon in nearby Leesburg, Va., for example, to hear about flocks of 300 or more. They’re loud. They’re smelly.

And they dive-bomb kids and small pets, which isn’t nearly as hilarious as it sounds.

Since they are protected by federal law and thus can’t be harmed, they must be, seriously, scared away. The U.S. Agriculture Department has helped the town devise schemes, including hanging a dead vulture in their favorite perching trees.

My wife has an easier trick when they land on our roof. She fires off a bottle rocket or two in their general direction.

While that’s certainly fun and sometimes necessary, I’ve come to like America’s original garbage disposal units.

Like most birds of prey, buzzards are all about food. Preferably dead herbivores, such as deer and raccoons, not dogs and cats wandering in the yard. From November to January, they are especially helpful in cleaning up the roads of deer that can’t resist running out in front of trucks and cars.

Vulture powers can be used for good. The birds are experts at seeing and smelling potential meals as they circle above, traits I realized I valued a couple of years ago when I was having difficulty tracking a nice buck during hunting season.

It was about 8 a.m. on a December morning when I was sitting about 15 feet up in a tree stand in nearby woods that the buck approached from a soybean field. He didn’t provide a very good shot and lay down for an hour or two.

I didn’t have much time because I had to get to town to watch my daughter and her Loudoun Valley High School marching band in the Christmas parade. About 30 minutes before I had to get down, the buck rose and gave me an easy shot. But as often happens even on easy shots, he took off into a huge thicket and his trail was nearly impossible to follow. I didn’t try, figuring to return in the afternoon.

It wasn’t any easier when I got back. That’s where the buzzards come in. As I neared the woods, I saw a group closely flying above and walked to where several had just landed to lunch on my buck. Mission accomplished.

Last month, I got some more help from the big birds. I had just finished butchering a few deer in my backyard when it started to rain and I took the meat inside, leaving the carcasses exposed.

Typically, I’ll cut the bones up and put them in garbage bags. This year, however, I found out that the county landfill takes them unbagged, so I just left them there. For too long.

Big mistake. A couple days later, when I couldn’t get the dogs to come in, I went out back and saw why. About 30 vultures were cleaning the bones and the dogs were mesmerized.

After I chased the birds off, I realized that all was good. They had lightened my load with their bone picking.

I’m not sure that they were angered by my shooing them away. because a day later, when I went to the landfill with the deer, I swear there were 30 vultures perched on a pile of dirt, waiting and watching.