Turkey Vulture

Last week an officer from the Inland Valley Humane Society, IVHS, brought us a Turkey Vulture that was unable to fly. IVHS is another fine agency that does its best to save wildlife. They regularly bring us their injured wildlife, all the way from Pomona, just to get the injured wildlife to the proper facility for treatment; giving the injured patient the best shot at being released back into its native habitat.

Turkey Vultures are very unique animals. While being very curious by nature, they are quite personable by nature. They also have incredible flight characteristics and can utilize a thermal with more finesse than any of the best pilots, using all of the latest technology and equipment. All while “fueling” itself on waste and providing a much needed service to all, by cleaning up that waste. This is truly one of our Creator’s best creations.

On examination, we found this patient to be dehydrated, emaciated and the left humeral, radial and ulna joint (elbow) were very obviously broken. We hydrated and fed this bird while we prepared the radiology equipment. We knew this was probably a mistake due to the fact this species of bird’s defense techniques is to regurgitate. It doesn’t hurt the bird; it’s just a very unpleasant mess to clean up. I mean it does sound kind of gross and nasty but it is actually very Zen-like if you take into consideration if something is harassing this bird, the reason for the harassment is “hunger” and to solve that problem, the Turkey Vulture is willing to share its last meal with whomever is harassing it. Let’s just hope it doesn’t feel harassed during the radiographs.

It just so happened that this bird did feel stressed during the radiograph and reacted in the predicted manner. Fortunately our radiologist agreed with us that it was more important to cure this patient's hunger and dehydration than it was to be concerned with cleaning the floor. We returned this patient back to its enclosure gave, it some mice and water and waited for the films to be developed. The radiographs revealed the injury to this Turkey Vultures elbow was such that it will never be able to fly again, leaving this bird non-releasable. We will now follow all set procedures dictated by the State of California’s Depart of Fish & Game regarding non-releasable wildlife.



"If you talk to the animals they will talk to you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them, you will not know them. What you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys." Chief Dan George *562.434.0141 - 379 Newport Ave Ste. 302 Long Beach, CA90814*