Jeremiah Tolbert

The Raptor Refuge res­cues injured and sick birds and reha­bil­i­tates them when pos­si­ble. When not pos­si­ble, they care for the birds the rest of their lives.

This guy has been with the Refuge almost 20 years. He was about 12 years old when he was found, half-​​dead from frost­bite with a bro­ken wing, hav­ing missed his fall migra­tion. Of the birds they work with, the vul­tures are most intel­li­gent and curi­ous. Raptors have a spe­cific hunt­ing intel­li­gence, but vul­tures are scav­engers, and that requires a more clever bird with an intel­li­gence that we rec­og­nize as more like ours. They like to manip­u­late things, “play­ing” you could say.

Despite hav­ing a fairly unap­peal­ing appear­ance, I’m quite fas­ci­nated by them. There is a roost down the street from us where 30–40 of these birds hold up for the night. After the rains we’ve been hav­ing, that block smells like a cross between manure and rot­ting meat. I feel sorry for the peo­ple who live right next to that.

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