SadieKate - please explain...

[DrBee]

Vulture chow????? Whaaaa???

[SadieKate]

When you're climbing up a huge hill and it's friggin' hot and you feel like you're going to pass out, what always seem to be circling overhead waiting for your final gack?

Vultures don't need Purina, they just need cyclists.

[maillotpois]

We do our spin classes outside, and this morning there were 2 huge vultures circling overhead. Disconcerting.

[SadieKate]

Would "buzzard bits" be clearer?

[Adventure Girl]

We have a similar concept in my mountain biking group (being eaten by an animal in nature). We often ride with one really slow guy named Phil. When we see a bobcat or worry about a wild animal chasing us, we say that we don't have to be faster than the bobcat, we just have to be faster than Phil.

[DrBee]

I like it! Here I guess I would be dog chow... there always seems to be a stray lurking around just waiting...

[yellow]

Would "buzzard bits" be clearer?

Ummmm...maybe if you rode somewhere where there were buzzards. That'd be like calling the American bison a "buffalo". Not quite right. But I'm sure you know that.

(note: if this were anyone other than SadieKate, I wouldn't make such a snotty remark.)

Eagles are largely scavengers, too. How about "eagle chow"? Eagles have a better reputation than TVs, even though they often hang out together (goldens and TVs). It just sounds more classy.

[SadieKate]

How about "condor carrion?" Okay, okay, there are no condors in my area, but I grew up just a short flight away from the Sespe.

(Yep, didn't take it as a snotty remark as you know I would have said the same thing. Don't know my winged-LBJs but I somewhat know my quadrapedal BBJs. )

[Lise]

I like it! Here I guess I would be dog chow... there always seems to be a stray lurking around just waiting...

That's what you have magical "good dog" socks for!

[snapdragen]

Eagles are largely scavengers, too. How about "eagle chow"? Eagles have a better reputation than TVs, even though they often hang out together (goldens and TVs). It just sounds more classy.

When I was on Kodiak Island, the lady showing us around called the eagles garbage birds! We were shocked, until she explained they hung out by the fish processing plants, waiting for the guts and goodies to be thrown out. Talk about your easy hunting....

[DrBee]

That's what you have magical "good dog" socks for!

Indeed - and they seem to be working so far

[yellow]

When I was on Kodiak Island, the lady showing us around called the eagles garbage birds! We were shocked, until she explained they hung out by the fish processing plants, waiting for the guts and goodies to be thrown out. Talk about your easy hunting....

Funny. People do have an issue with that when they find out. This large, majestic bird that is one of the symbols of our country...is really largely a scavenger that prefers hanging out and waiting for food.

I always though the approach was so smart. Why waste energy hunting it down when you can just go to the packing plant or wait for the salmon to die all on their own? Those kinglets work so hard all winter long, and they end up losing something like 20-30% of their body weight EACH NIGHT, only to have to gain it back in order to survive the sub-freezing temps.

y (former bird nerd, owner of many pairs of binoculars and scopes, been away from it for some time)

[cinderly]

The smartest eagles I've ever run across are the bazillion that congregate down on the Homer Spit. There's a lady out there who feeds them every morning.

It's really something to see, but you won't be able to comment on it at the time, because that many eagles make A LOT of noise at feeding time.

And they're scary big. I didn't fully appreciate what a 6-foot wingspan meant until I was in a car parked 10 feet from a full-grown eagle.

Homer, Alaska's Eagle Lady

[Duck on Wheels]

I got the "vulture chow" point right off. In Norway sheep grazing in mountain pastures are also called "bamsemums" -- "bear goodies", the same name as a brand of chocolate covered marshmallow teddy bear-shaped candies, but in the latter case we eat the bears while in the former the bear eats you.

Anyways ... when biking in the summer I think we're more gnat nosh or mosquitoe meals than vulture chow. The vulture chow state is a distant, worse case nightmare, whereas gnats nosh on us constantly.

[RoadRaven]

LOL...

Hey, Kiwis... what on earth would we be here in NZ?

No major predators here!