A campaign against Griffon vultures is gathering pace in France after it was revealed that the carrion eaters had devoured the body of a 52-year-old woman who fell to her death in the Pyrenees.
Major Didier Pericou of the gendarmerie said the woman had fallen down a 300-metre slope while taking a short cut walking with two friends.
"There were only bones, clothes and shoes left," he told The Times.
"They took 45 to 50 minutes to eat the body."
French farmers are now demanding the right to shoot the protected birds after attacks on sheep and cows.
The birds no longer have their diet of carcasses because European health and safety regulations now force breeders to burn dead animals.
The Pyrenees population of Griffon vultures has apparently been affected by an EC ruling that due to danger of BSE transmission, no dead animals must be left on the fields.
MORE YUM YUM HERE
Thanks to WiscoDave for the link
They must be extra hungry - I was hunting coyotes over a dead heifer once and it took the vultures 2 days to finish that off.
"There were only bones, clothes and shoes left," he told The Times.
"They took 45 to 50 minutes to eat the body."
French farmers are now demanding the right to shoot the protected birds after attacks on sheep and cows.
The birds no longer have their diet of carcasses because European health and safety regulations now force breeders to burn dead animals.
The Pyrenees population of Griffon vultures has apparently been affected by an EC ruling that due to danger of BSE transmission, no dead animals must be left on the fields.
MORE YUM YUM HERE
Thanks to WiscoDave for the link
*****
They must be extra hungry - I was hunting coyotes over a dead heifer once and it took the vultures 2 days to finish that off.
That's one way to dispose of an unwanted mother-in-law, I guess. Makes me wonder if these birds are up to trying their beaks against body armor.
ReplyDeleteI'm torn between a lecture on why shortcuts are a bad idea in the mountains, or chalking it up to "shoulda stayed in the kitchen."
ReplyDeleteIt's sad for the woman but nature takes care of clean up.
ReplyDeleteOh my! You're nothing but skin and bones these days!
ReplyDeleteThese birds have been spotted at 36,000 feet by airplane pilots!! They have special lungs that allow them to fly that high. Can you fucking imagine flying 7 miles up?
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah they gotta eat too-if they hadn't eaten her something would've.
MM