Darn flying dinosaurs!

[brett13]

So, we were camping last weekend on a perfect day. It was about 8pm and while the sky was darkening, the wind fell quiet and you could hear a pin drop. We listened to sounds and enjoyed our campfire. Then, I heard a raven or similar giant bird. You know, the one ones with the 6' wingspans. It was coming towards us- pretty cool, I thought. Then it pulled up and landed on the camper, which I've never seen happen before, and I reached for the camera. Took a great shot (attached below). It quickly made some noise and my dog, sleeping in the camper, barked at it from inside. The bird made some more noise and a weird motion.

I threw a rock at it because it seemed too comfortable and up to no good- after all, I've never seen one come so close and stick around. Didn't want it to peck at the camper. Maybe it was scoping out my dog? After it flew away, I went over to look and discovered that it regurgitated a whole meal on my roof! Stunk to high heaven and you could see bits of fur and bone in the pile. Nasty animal! Let me tell you, there was no satisfactory way to clean up the mess while camping. The next day I drove to a gas station and used their window squeegee to finally get it all off.

 

[simimike]

Ain't nature great? Maybe he was bring you a meal for your chicks.

mike

 

[MarkBC]

Strange and cool! (well, except for the mess

). I wonder if it was sick....sometimes when animals act weird it's because they're sick.
Where was this?

By the way, that looks to be a vulture. (much bigger than a raven, which are like large crows).

 

[ski3pin]

Turkey Vulture. Something it ate didn't agree with it, pretty remarkable considering what it regularly eats! Pretty foul stuff I'd bet. Too bad you were on the receiving end of this one.

 

[brett13]

Turkey Vulture. Something it ate didn't agree with it, pretty remarkable considering what it regularly eats! Pretty foul stuff I'd bet. Too bad you were on the receiving end of this one.

It didn't really look like a turkey vulture as it flew, but the silhouette in the pic sure does. Now that I think about it, it definitely was not a raven- it was not all black. Probably a vulture, maybe it looked odd because it was sick.

We were down in the foothills on the west side of San Luis Valley of Colorado. Not too far from Great Sand Dunes NP.

 

[CJinCA]

Hmmmm. That's definitely a vulture. Most likely a Turkey vulture as I don't believe the Black vulture ranges that far north. Being fairly well versed on birds of prey that's very odd behavior. Normally vultures only regurgitate as a defense mechanism when surprised on the ground and when feeding their young. The suggestion that it was sick, injured or dying seems logical. It's very rare to ever get that close to one.

I agree about the foul mess left on your roof. Vulture vomit is nasty stuff and very acidic as well. Take care to clean your roof thoroughly or your camper's finish will probably be marred or discolored.

 

[Barko1]

I think I used that window squeegee after that