Let's Not Meet: A Collection

dont follow vultures

When I was younger, about 10 years ago, I got into bird watching. I was about 12, so it wasn't really "official" by any means, I was just some kid that liked to sneak up on birds, take pictures and look them up in books. I decided to start this hobby by making a list, with pictures I had printed from the library, of native birds in my region. Every weekend I'd wander around the neighborhood (which was suburbs smashed haltingly against large plots of land covered in brush) in search of new birds. With a few ponds and a large creek in the area, I found quite a few within my first few weeks. However, there was one bird I had set as my sort of "white whale" due to it's rarity in the area- the Black Vulture.

We have tons of Turkey Vultures in my area, they are most common, but much fewer Black Vultures. They are a bit hard to tell the difference if they're flying too high- the best was to determined which vulture it is has to do with how much gray-white is one their wings. If they got closer, you can eventually make out the red head of Turkey Vulture, as I often did, disappointingly.

Unfortunately, I cannot remember the exact date, or what month it was even (I believe sometime in the fall, however), but one weekend, I decided to spend the next two days searching high and low for the Black Vulture. I went climbing over the small wire fencing around a nearby brushy area, as per usual (keep out signs be damned) and searched.

Usually you had the best luck finding scavenger birds on road kill, beside the road, and there so happened to be a small, two-lane winder that mirrored the creek nearby, just through the foliage. So I cut across the sort of mini-forest, headed in that direction. As much as it made me sad to see a dead deer, or possum, it was a common sight on this road, as both sides are open, with trees and undergrowth almost choking it. There are some parts of the road that almost become a sort of tunnel, due to the leaves intertwining above. It was incredibly easy for a deer or some other animal to jump out in front of a car, in the dark, with neither party realizing until it was too late.

I didn't have much luck. There were a few crows on the smear of a squirrel, and I saw a few ducks swimming the creek beside me, but nothing big. It started getting late, but the sun was still up, and despite the dangers of walking down a forest road in the dark, I was determined to stay out as long as possible. I decided to reach a small park area at the end of the road, and then I'd make my way back. I went under a small tunnel of leaves, and came out the other side, and was delighted to see the familiar shape of a large bird in the sky, circling. It was just the right shape and size to be a vulture, but I had no hope of checking for the grayness of it's feathers, as the sunlight was limited. Instead, I was stuck following it as it slowly began to sink lower.

After about ten or so minutes, it landed, and I carefully snuck forward, cautiously avoiding anything that could alert the bird of my presence. I sunk low to the ground, realizing that the bird had landed in a small clearing at the far end of a park. It was just a small, open field, slightly tilted down a hill, with the parking lot on the top. I had been there before, as it was a fun spot for kids to roll down the hill, because of how steep it was.

I approached it from the bottom, excitement brimming when I heard several sqwacks and shrieks of other birds. Black Vultures are more aggressive than Turkeys, and I was hoping to catch a spat. I got to the edge of the clearing, and pulled out my binoculars.

Two things kind of hit me at once here. One, I found it odd that they were in the middle of the park, rather than closer to the road, where you'd assume they'd find roadkill. Though, I reasoned, things could die anywhere, even in the middle of a park. However, secondly, it smelled. Awful. The scent was rather light, but I've been known to have a really sensitive nose, and just this... sharp, coppery scent, like when you pull rotten ground meat out of a bag. I had smelled roadkill before, and in the heat of the day, it smelled bad, but nothing like this.

When I put my binoculars to my eyes, I expected a deer corpse, and birds fighting. I never in a million years thought I would see a corpse of a completely different kind. The birds were there, and I remember the faint pang of excitement I still had, recognizing the proud head of a Black Vulture, before the image of it sitting on the chest of a naked woman sucked the life out of me. I was frozen, and I could not look away. My throat tightened with vomit, and I could not look away. The birds had done surprisingly little to her body- she had what I think were cuts, but most of her was intact.

What wasn't, the birds were at. Her eyes, lips, and... genitals, were red and shredded. If there was a big defining wound, I missed it, between the gathering of birds and the fading light, but what I did see I can never forget. I haven't forgotten, I can pull up the image so clearly now, even after all this time. She was pale, almost blue in places, with blonde, crinkled hair.

I sat there, stupidly, for who knows how long, as the sun sunk behind the trees. This was a time before cellphones were a common thing, and I had quite the hike back home. I realize now I was in shock, and I could only move when the sudden fear that whoever did this could be nearby hit me. I forced myself to slowly waddle backwards into the trees, not taking my eyes off the body. I didn't want to turn around, for some reason. I was so scared someone would be behind me, I thought if I just backed up forever, maybe nothing would happen.

It was dusk. And suddenly, there was light. High beams, from the top of the hill, a single pair. I heard the screech of tires as the car wheeled out, and listened to it veer off to the left, and away, down the road, opposite in the direction I was headed. That was the last straw, and I ran the entire way back the second I could no longer hear it. I crashed through at least a mile of brush, and while I was smart enough to have had boots and thick jeans on, my arms were bare and bleeding by the time I stopped. I paused mid-way through the brush by my house, realizing that, embarrassingly, I had pissed myself in fear at some point, before nearly crawling my way through people's yards to get home, avoiding all passing cars.

The horror didn't completely end there, as I was home alone until past midnight, as my mom worked late at a diner nearby. It's stupid, and I regret it to this day, but no, I did not call the police instantly, nor my mom. I was stupidly afraid that if I did, my mom would get mad at me, I would never be allowed to go outside again, or worse, that they wouldn't believe me for some reason. I locked all the doors, double checked, took a quick shower and locked myself in my room. I had fallen asleep, somehow, by the time my mom came home.

I confronted her in the morning, at least, but by that time, when we made the call together, the body had already been found. They took my statement. We never got any calls back. I stopped bird watching.

I tried my best to find an article, or news somewhere about this, but I failed in finding anything. It probably doesn't help that I can't remember the exact date (I have a lot of missing time from ages 12 to 14 for some reason, which I can't even begin to explain). There are very few things I remember so well, this being a big one. I have never shared this story with anyone outside my own family, but I thought it might fit here, and I apologize if not. It was sort of therapeutic, I think, writing this out after so long. I'm going to keep trying to find something to verify this, and I'll update asap if I can.