Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Rural Living Buzzards At It Again

This was strange..............yesterday afternoon we were leaving to go to a granddaughters basketball game, and as I drove by the field where the cattle are, I saw the cows all running around and buzzards sitting in the trees. Of course I happened to be in my wife's Explorer and the only gun I had was a 9mm Glock. I jumped out and headed towards them, and saw a cow with a newborn calf. The other cows were actually chasing the buzzards away. When I got close enough, every buzzard, and one hawk that was watching the show, all flew away. I figured they'd be back, so I turned around and went back and got into my pickup, where I always keep a rifle. Went back and watched for some time, and never saw a single buzzard. Usually, you have to shoot at them in order to get them to leave, but this bunch apparently just left the country.

Never had that happen before, which leads me to believe that maybe they're getting used to farmers getting after them. Those people who do not have cattle have no idea how aggressive these black buzzards are. They will catch a cow that's calving, and try to eat the afterbirth, as well as going after the calf. I've never lost one to the buzzards, but some neighbors have.

I have neighbors that they have given problems the last couple of years. miles

They'll damn sure kill a calf down here.

Some studies show that the closer the proximity to a populace buzzard roost, the greater the danger to calves or lambs.


And they are federally protected, and if you have a problem with them killing livestock, you have to apply and get a permit to do so.


Or you could just use the 3 S's rule...

We just have the old turkey buzzards here in the south of Iowa- and thankful that they help clean up the carrion. They generally won't bother a live critter.

I hear those black buzzards can be a nightmare.

I mostly find buzzards to be helpful in letting me know if I have a problem in the pasture.

I see buzzards, I know something is dead, and go investigate.

We have two kinds vultures (that being the official term), with the head that looks like a turkey, and those black basitds. The black ones are the bad ones. They will get all over a cow that's having a calf, and often worry the cow so, that she ends up having problems. We can get a permit through Farm Bureau that allows us to shoot up to 5 of them. I should do that, in order to be legal about things.

Damn mexican buzzards give the American vultures a bad name. SSS

Some are starting to have troubles with the black variety around here. Also hear they can carry a certain parasite that's pretty lethal to cows

I never heard of buzzards killing calves until last year. Heard one guy lost one and I figured the calf was already dead before the black buzzards started eating on it but then a good friend of mine said he had a cow standing in a field watching 2 black buzzards on the ground and he figured she had a dead calf. He went out there and the calf was still alive but the buzzards popped both eyes out and he said the calf ended up dying from it. So I guess the black buzzards are a lot more aggressive than the turkey vultures.

Curious, how often is often, and what kind of problems do your cows have when buzzards are around?

I'm a heifer and a cow away from being done calving here and the buzzards are still a while from showing up for the summer. But even when we have an occasional late calf and they are around I've never had any problems, or heard of anyone having problems, with buzzards whilst calving.

I have a high voltage power line tower in my yard & those damm buzzards like to sit there on damp days. I shoot them with my pump up pellet gun. Just a few pumps so as not to kill them (illegal) but to run them off. They are trainable, to pain. If I let them be, they crap & stink, to "high heaven".

I have hunting property in Cumberland County, my neighbor and I first talked about the Mexican Buzzard depredation last year just after calving season, she said the Buzzards were her biggest problem. Also last year I was watching a Doe and fawn for weeks and noticed about week three that the Buzzards were perched in tree in my back pasture and went out to check what's up and that fawn was dead and mostly picked clean.