Who Knew Vultures Were So Awesome - And Fun?

We’ve seen vultures everywhere, from westerns to Snoopy hanging over his doghouse to the turkey vultures on the side of our roads. But have we ever thought to say thank you for their service in public sanitation?

The story of the decimation of the vulture population in India is a world famous lesson. An anti-inflammatory drug for India’s livestock proved to be fatal to vultures that fed on their carcasses, and as the vultures died out, in came other less aerial scavengers - rats and wild dogs with diseases that harmed the human population. Maintaining vulture populations is such a worldwide concern, conservationists in England and South Africa created International Vulture Awareness Day, a worldwide celebration to help spread the word about how vital vultures are for a healthy ecosystem and why it’s important to keep them healthy.

Fortunately, our Athens vulture population is thriving and - courtesy of numerous Athens-Clarke County organizations - appreciated with our own local version of the celebration. Last Saturday marked the 2nd annual Vulture Festival family fun day, held at the ACC landfill on Lexington Road. It was an amazing day of fun, food, education and fundraising for the International Vulture Awareness Day Foundation.

“When Suki Janssen [Director of ACC Solid Waste Department], Cema Wallace [ACC Recycling Program Specialist] and I discussed how awesome we thought it was that such a holiday existed, we realized we needed to celebrate here in Athens,” said Jenny Kvapil, Program Specialist at Bear Hollow Zoo and Wildlife Trail. “We brainstormed as many vulture themed activities as we could - like scavenger hunt, animal ambassador visits [an opposum, an owl, and a vulture], demonstrating how great it is to be bald when you’re eating a gooey carcass, experimenting with the cooling effects of ‘poop,’ offering vulture cookies and edible’vomit’ [customized chocolate bark] if participants made a donation to the International Vulture Awareness Day Foundation. We also had lots of photo opportunities, including with the costumed character vulture.”

One of the most popular games was the Vulture Vomit Toss, where visitors of all ages got to throw fake vulture vomit at pictures of vulture predators, since projectile vomiting is how vultures protect themselves.

There were also experienced birders from the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society for a morning bird walk. Visitors enjoyed watching vultures soaring overhead throughout the day.

“We realized the ACC Landfill Outdoor Classroom would be a perfect location for the event, as there are always plenty of vultures on hand to observe in the wild,” said Kvapil. “We partnered with the Oconee Rivers Audubon Society - they lead bird walks that lead participants right to all the vulture action.”

The ACC Recycling Division also hosted a recycling collection event at the Landfill Drop-Off site. Visitors were able to bring residential quantities of paint, batteries, light bulbs and electronics for recycling at no charge.

Holy Crepe food truck was also on hand with delicious crepes for visitors of less scavenging tastes.

“We had about 90 people in attendance,” said Kvapil, “and hope to attract more at future vulture festivals!”

With treats like Vulture Vomit Toss, Vulture Poop demonstrations and real live vultures, visitors are already circling for next year.

To see more photos from the event, check out this gallery.