Vultures Eat Unidentified Animal

Warning: This post is going to gross you out. If you don’t like disgusting things, don’t read this.

Okay, I see you took the bait and have decided to read on. You’ve been warned.

Last week, as I was mowing the lawn, I smelled something disgusting. I have no idea what it was, but I knew it was coming from the swale next to the house. Since I was pushing the mower back and forth across the lawn, I wasn’t stationary long enough to really get a good whiff of it. I chalked it up to something in the woods next door.

About two weeks ago, we came up with the bright idea of putting all of our food scraps in a garbage can in the garage as the beginnings of a compost pile. We were going to get things going in the garbage can and then somehow transfer the contents outside. Time got away from us, the can began to smell and I threw the whole thing out. It was in the garage for about a week.

If you took care to notice the chronology of the events I just wrote about, you would’ve seen that both smelly occurrences coincided about one week ago. Strange how these things turn out.

The same day we decided to get rid of the rotting food scraps happened to be the same day the garbage service comes to pick up the trash. And as I was putting the smelly garbage can out at the end of the driveway, I said to Laura, “Man, that stinks. Whew. It smells halfway up the driveway.” We went inside and didn’t think much of it again.

The next day, as I was bringing the garbage can back inside, I mentioned how it still smelled outside. I told Laura that there must be some remnants of rotting decay inside the can. I brought it to the side of the house to rinse. I almost vomited at the smell, but got the job done.

The same day, we were walking around the side of the house, when I smelled that horrid smell again. It was coming from the swale at the edge of the property, so I decided to go take a look. Here is what I found.

I have no idea what it was, but I can tell you that I’m lucky to have a strong gag reflex. Others may not have been so lucky.

Right around the time Laura and I were hovering over this disgusting beast, one of our neighbors was walking her dog. She was all sorts of interested in what we were looking at and came over to see what the commotion was. She was appalled at what she saw and said that she would call animal control to come pick the thing up. I agreed that she should call and Laura and I went back inside. I had to get ready for Jiu-Jitsu class.

Animal control didn’t come between the time the woman said she’d call and the time I had to leave. As I was getting into my car, trying to hold my breath, Laura noticed some vultures walking across the lawn into the swale. Apparently, they discovered the animal and had claimed it as dinner. After witnessing what I witnessed, I am now sure that vultures have no taste buds or sense of smell. If they had, they probably wouldn’t have done what you’re about to see in the pictures below.

There. I’ve said it. Enjoy the photos.