Conclusion to the Turkey Vulture Story
Dec. 31st, 2009 06:09 pmWell, this was an awesome way to end an awesome year! I got a call this morning from Kim asking if I wanted to release the turkey vulture I found a few days ago. It turns out he was most likely stunned (he possibly flew into the side of a car) when I brought him in, and after a few hours he fully recovered. He had no lasting damage at all, and was very healthy and ready to go. :) I drove over to the raptor center and Laurel caught him (not easily, mind you, as he's very strong!) and put him in a carrier, and from there we put the carrier in my car.
I spent a while driving around near where I found him looking for the right place to release him, and finally found a hill on a property that was for sale and decided that was a good place. My dad just randomly happened to be driving by on his way back from work, so he stopped and got to experience the release, too!
The vulture was reluctant to leave the carrier, or rather was unaware that he could, and so we had to urge him to leave the carrier after a while. Once he was out though, he looked around for a second, ran, and took off soaring, eventually landing across the street on top of a pole, where he stayed until after I left. It was a great release! I feel wonderful about it. If I hadn't stopped for him, he very well could be roadkill, and instead I got to watch him fly off!
Here he is at the raptor center:


In the carrier, and hating it:

Release site:

Final carrier picture:


Aaaand he's out!

Off he goes:


Landed on the pole:



Bye vulture, have a good life!
Ahhh, releases are always so heartwarming. :D
I'll post again later with a New Years' post and photos of my new "rooster"! (You'll see why the quote marks are there later.)
I spent a while driving around near where I found him looking for the right place to release him, and finally found a hill on a property that was for sale and decided that was a good place. My dad just randomly happened to be driving by on his way back from work, so he stopped and got to experience the release, too!
The vulture was reluctant to leave the carrier, or rather was unaware that he could, and so we had to urge him to leave the carrier after a while. Once he was out though, he looked around for a second, ran, and took off soaring, eventually landing across the street on top of a pole, where he stayed until after I left. It was a great release! I feel wonderful about it. If I hadn't stopped for him, he very well could be roadkill, and instead I got to watch him fly off!
Here he is at the raptor center:


In the carrier, and hating it:

Release site:

Final carrier picture:


Aaaand he's out!

Off he goes:


Landed on the pole:



Bye vulture, have a good life!
Ahhh, releases are always so heartwarming. :D
I'll post again later with a New Years' post and photos of my new "rooster"! (You'll see why the quote marks are there later.)
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Date: 2010-01-01 02:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-01 02:16 am (UTC)I love happy endings. <3
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Date: 2010-01-01 02:46 am (UTC)And Happy New Years!
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Date: 2010-01-01 02:59 am (UTC)(Also, Gizamimi will be shipped as SOON as I get back from my trip to Georgia. I'm going to send her in a different type of packaging this time. Sorry it's taking so long to get her back out - I haven't had the car all week. ;_;)
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Date: 2010-01-02 09:00 am (UTC)Oh, and I don't mind at all! Take your time, there's no hurry. :3
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Date: 2010-01-01 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-01 03:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-01 03:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-01 03:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-01 09:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-02 03:58 am (UTC)