I am sure if I ever climbed a tower covered in turkey vulture excrement and vomit I would not be trying to tell their side of the story. But, hear me out, they serve a purpose in the natural world and, while totally gross, are fascinatingly so. Yes, we have documented (Vultures Drop Corrosive Internal Contents on Border Towers 1/2020) how their droppings are also corrosive, can peel paint and acid wash metal. We have also covered the myriad failed attempts to chase them away from towers (Tower Vultures Not Deterred by Fake Dead Vulture 8/2022). So what good are they, you ask?
They keep disease from spreading, how’s that for a start? Like all bottom feeders in the natural world, they have their place…even though we wish they wouldn’t use our infrastructure we’ve so painstakingly put up as their local hang.
A recent article by the Kiowa County Signal points out that, unlike osprey, another feathered tower tenant, vultures are scavengers rather than hunters. Their preferred diet is a boon to the ecosystem, ridding the landscape of dead and decaying animals. And the same stomach acid that wreaks havoc on cell towers is particularly good at digesting the offal it ingests.
“Their stomach acid can also dissolve those pathogens that cause botulism, anthrax, rabies, cholera, hepatitis, and polio. By consuming this rotten and diseased meat, they can help prevent the spread of disease to both humans and other animals,” a National Wildlife Education report confirms. The report says turkey vultures have the lowest gastric pH in the animal kingdom. The pH in a turkey vulture’s stomach acid is barely above zero but a hundred times more concentrated than human gastric juices. In other words, these birds could dissolve nails.
In comparison to the aforementioned ospreys, a protected and admired bird, vultures do not build nests. An osprey making a home of a cell tower can damage equipment when it builds a nest that cannot be removed until the birds leave. A vulture can be frightened off with a loud noise, though there is little to deter it from returning. Those hoping to relocate vultures should be aware of one of the bird’s defense mechanisms – projectile vomiting. If one approaches a vulture intending to scare it off, best to do so from at least ten feet away. Fun fact: turkey vultures will poop on their own legs to insulate them and keep them cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Again on the plus side, vultures are diurnal, choosing to sleep at night. A flock of noisy vultures is not going to disturb its human neighbors with late night carrying on.
Even with the observations of wildlife experts to recommend them, vultures like the ones gathered on the cell tower outside the City of Pratt Fire Station in Pratt, Kansas have garnered the scorn of local residents like Fred Mattal.
Mattal went on Facebook to air his frustrations, stating, “Drive by north of the fire station in the evening, count them roosting on the top of the tower and all the crap on the street and sidewalk.”
Hey, turkey vultures, I tried my best to defend you.
By Jim Fryer, Inside Towers Managing Editor
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