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Vindicating Vultures

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Vindicating Vultures
Baja’s Cleanup Crew
BY MARTINA DOBESH
I was captivated years ago by the grace of the vulture in flight. To me it was a sky meditation. Vulture
is the perfect soaring machine. There is no denying it is a little on the homely side with its bare head and
neck. The fact that the skin is red doesn’t help either. I suppose the last straw is the fact it feeds on
carrion, turning most people off. But oh, when vulture unfurls those wings with the silver lining, all sixfeet of wing, it is their saving grace. As a storyteller, I take on the task of vindicating the vulture by telling
the true story to dispel some of the ugly myths. Vulture has been soaring over Mexico for millenniums.
Let me introduce this most amazing creature and a little of its history.
Just imagine if the vulture did not exist. In Baja we have long open stretches of desert. There is no
routine clean up by “Caltrans,” so the vulture becomes the nearest thing to a road crew that we have.
And it is very good at what it does. Unashamed of its task, it picks animal remains clean which would
otherwise be a nasty site. It has a unique digestive system, as you can imagine, which has a resistance to
botulism thousands of times higher than humans, because it contains certain chemicals that kill the
virulent bacteria in the carcasses. Debunking another myth, vultures prefer to eat fairly fresh meat and
will turn up their ugly little noses if the kill has been out in the sun too long. They fancy the meat of
animals that eat grass and vegetables and do not care for carnivores. And they do not screech when
circling over something about to die. This is a misnomer created by Hollywood westerns. In fact, it is
mute and only makes a hissing sound in warning. It is also incorrect to call it a “buzzard.” Buzzards are
actually of the hawk family.
To further vindicate this much maligned bird, here are some facts about the Turkey Vulture. The
Turkey Vulture is actually related to the Egyptian Ibis. Its scientific name is Cathartes aura, golden
purifier. It is known correctly as buitre in Spanish, but you will sometimes hear zopilote (buzzard).
Vultures find food with both their keen sense of smell and excellent eyesight. Vulture poop is actually a
sanitizer. Their uric acid is so strong it kills bacteria. This is good for desert hikers to know. However,
there are no instructions regarding how to collect the poop from an inconvenienced six pound bird
hissing at you.
There is no more graceful bird in the sky as it soars catching the thermals. Vultures soar for hours
without flapping. They will take flight when the air is warmed, frequently circling and gaining altitude on
pockets of rising warm air. When they reach the top of the thermal, they glide across the sky at speeds
up to 60 miles per hour, gradually losing altitude all the while, until they catch another thermal that takes
them skyward again. Circling vultures do not necessarily indicate the presence of a dead animal. In the
early mornings vultures can be seen opening up their 6-foot wing span to warm themselves and dry their
feathers. Their inner wing feathers are a light silver color and when the sunlight catches them they shine
like gold, thus the “Golden Purifier.”
Man and vulture have been linked for eons of time and it has royal ancestors. La Brea Tar Pits in Alta
California has carbon dating of a 38,000 year old vulture trapped in the sticky goo. Vulture was present
at the dawn of the Maya, seven hundred years before Christ. Vulture was found in an ancient royal Maya
burial ground in Guatemala, probably the condor. Among the findings were unique beads made of the
precious Olmec blue jadeite with a center bob of a carved vulture’s head. A 35,000 year-old vulture-bone
flute was discovered in a European cave and is likely the world's oldest recognizable musical instrument.
The artifact suggests music may have been one advantage our ancestors had over their cousins, the nowextinct Neanderthals.
Seeing a vulture in graceful flight, don’t forget that Egypt considered this bird to be a goddess. Mut
(Moot) was the mother goddess of Thebes. The ancient Egyptians considered the vulture to be a
protecting and nurturing mother (which is actually their true nature), and so their word for mother was
also the word for a vulture, "Mwt". She was often shown wearing the double crown of Egypt or the
vulture headdress. For them the Golden Purifier’s morning ritual of opening its wings to the sun, looked
like a prayer to the Sun God. This is certainly one of the most striking sights, if you are up early enough
to witness it.
So, as a spokesperson on behalf of the vulture, remember this. If you should see the vulture feeding
in the middle of the road, please brake! It is no easy task to get its six-pounds off the ground and into
flight. Give Vulture a little time for hopping and unfurling its great wings for lift off. In this way we are
assured that the desert cleanup crew remains fit to continue the work no one else would want to do.
Editor’s Note: This and other great stories can be found in Martina’s new book, Dust in My Sandals,
Tales from a Baja Traveler, now on Amazon. 
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