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Today I was driving along a little used rural back road through a pine forest when I came around a corner to encounter about 12 to 15 black vultures giving the final rites to a deer carcass in the ditch alongside the road. The attendees, all dressed in black, were gathered all around the deer departed, while the busy crowd of participants spilled out onto the road. As soon as I appeared, chaos ensued, with a dozen plus vultures all trying to take off at the same time and getting in each other's way. Taking off is a somewhat awkward and protracted affair for a bird the size of a vulture and it takes time for them to build up some airspeed before they can start gaining altitude. Since the sides of the road were closed in by the pine woods, there was nowhere for this whole mass of large birds to go but down the road in the same direction that I was travelling. So I was enveloped in this mass of flapping wings and bobbing feathery bodies obscuring my vision with wingtips hitting my hood, windshield, and roof as I passed though and under this flock of slowly climbing birds (it was a gravel road so I didn't want to hit the brakes too suddenly). Fortunately the shape of my car helped to lift the birds up and over me and car and birds all survived the close encounter with no damage to my car and a few ruffled feathers on the vultures, but it was a bit of an adrenaline moment.

I know of at least two occasions where cars had encountered low flying vultures and had them come through the windshield and end up in the car with them. In one of these cases the bird survived the collision and ended up in the back seat, where it then proceeded to do the time honored bird behavior for repelling enemies by vomiting up its most recent meal. The broken windshield was a quick fix, but it took a long time for them to get the smell out of their car.

you crack me up with your stories, thanks for the laughs :D

Vulture vomit would have to be one of the worst smells on Earth.

That was very cleverly written!

Supposedly buzzards are among the most intelligent of birds. I've had encounters with several of their less endowed cousins, thankfully my car's aerodynamics alway whisks them over the cabin unharmed...

Perhaps if you would have gotten there a few days sooner the deer would have hit your car instead of whatever terminating vehicle actually did hit it and by doing so, would have survived with only a bruised ego and a great story to tell the other deer about the low flying spaceship that it rolled over. :D - Dale

I didn't know about the ACcIDent reflux of buzzards. Imagine a buzzard after eating a dead skunk! :eek:

The story was well-timed for Halloween. :D