4C0 
Turkey Vulture 
Hog 
Cholera 
to peck the offending hand that reached in under her and withdrew the I 
eggs. A few hisses of remonstrance, usually accompanied by a peace- 
offering consisting of a portion of her last meal which she humbly 
laid at my feet, were the only evidences of distress any of them ever 
exhibited. 
The eggs are two in number and are about two and three-quarter 
inches in length by two inches in width. They are dull white or pale 
yellowish or pinkish, spotted and blotched with markings of various 
shades of chocolate. The naked young are soon covered with a coat 
of white down, hence the old homely expression, “Every old Buzzard 
thinks her young one is the whitest.” At the age of four weeks the 
black wing- feathers begin to appear. From eight to ten weeks 
are passed in and about the nest before the young are able to fly. 
An adult Turkey Buzzard is about two and a half feet from bill 
tip to tail tip and the expanse of wings measures about six feet and 
the bird weighs in the neighborhood of six and a half pounds. In color its 
plumage is blackish brown. The head of the fully adult is devoid of 
feathers, with a reddish or crimson skin. Its eyes are brown and the 
bill dead white. 
As we have seen, the Turkey Vulture possesses a certain economic 
value as a destroyer of carrion, and indirectly a conservator of human 
energy, which otherwise might necessarily be 
expended in burying dead animals. A great 
scourge throughout the United States is hog 
cholera, which annually results in enormous losses. All efforts to ade- 
quately control this terrific epidemic have been futile. Certain state 
veterinaries and others have come forward with the claim that Buzzards 
distribute hog cholera and therefore the birds should be killed. In fact, 
under the influence of their teaching, some of the southern states have 
taken legal protection from this bird, as examples : Alabama, Louisiana, 
South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. The claim is that the Buzzards 
feed on hogs that have died with cholera, get the germs on their bills, 
feet and feathers, and, flying away, distribute the disease to other droves 
of swine. This is probably correct. However, the Buzzard is not the 
only distributor of cholera germs. These are carried about the place 
and from farm to farm on men’s shoes, hoofs of horses and wagon- 
wheels, as well as dogs, horses, foxes, opossums, and other animals, 
that particularly during the hours of darkness visit carcasses and then 
pass on. 
Of course it has been pointed out that if the stock raiser will burn 
or bury the body of his hog as soon as it dies and not leave it in the 
open, neither the Vulture nor any other animal will carry the germ, 
but this involves additional labor on the farm, which of course must 
be avoided where possible. 
Flies undoubtedly carry far more of the anthrax germ than does 
our much abused Vulture. 
The Turkey^ Vulture ranges from northern Mexico to southern Canada and 
New York. It is usually a resident where found, although in the West the bird 
retires to California, Nebraska, and the Ohio Valley at the approach of winter. 
The Turkey Vulture belongs to the Order of Raptores, and to the family 
Cathartidae. 
This and other Educational Leaflets are for sale, at 5 cents each, by the National Association 
of Audubon Societies, 1974 Broadway, New York City. Lists given on request. 
