Maybe you’ve seen some roadkill while driving through the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, along the freeway, or even in your neighborhood. Or maybe you’ve been hiking and caught a whiff of something really, really foul. Or maybe you’ve seen ants swarming on another dead insect or even come upon an animal skull during a day on the trail. Have you ever thought about what happens when an animal dies in nature and how does it “go away”? Enter nature’s clean up crew! Carrion eaters are organisms that eat dead and decaying animals. This can be roadkill, leftovers from other carnivores’ meals, animals that simply expire from old age or injury or those that have been hunted and unfortunately never recovered by their pursuer. It sounds pretty gross but carrion eaters play a critical role in ecosystem nutrient recycling. Sometimes they’re loosely called “scavengers” and one of our most valuable scavenger species is pretty common and can be seen almost anywhere in our region from urban to rural areas. Do you want to take a guess at what species it is? I’ll give you some clues… They have an exceptionally fine-tuned sense of smell and can detect the scent of rotting flesh from over a mile away. Are you jealous? Their stomach acid is ultra acidic and allows them to eat bacteria and virus-laden decaying flesh and still remain healthy. When they feel threatened they will vomit in self-defense. Considering what they eat, it’s pretty clever and effective. It also makes them weigh less so they can escape quicker. To cool off in hot weather they will defecate and/or urinate on their own legs. This is called urohydrosis. They lack vocal cords and cannot make vocalizations, they can produce only grunts and hiss sounds. Did you guess what species I’m talking about yet? Of course, it’s the Turkey Vulture! Their scientific name, Cathartes aura , literally means, “cleansing breeze”. It seems appropriate when you consider their role in removing carcasses that spread disease such as anthrax, botulism and cholera from the environment. Turkey Vultures do not have feathers on their heads and resemble wild turkeys which is where their common name came from. Although their bald, red heads don’t help endear them to those that like “pretty birds”, it does keep them clean while they jam their naked heads into sticky, stinky dead animal carcasses. Although Turkey Vultures are classified as a bird of prey, they do not have strong talons like other raptors and are not able to kill their own food which makes them reliant on carrion left behind by other carnivores, mother nature, or vehicles. Turkey Vultures also do not build nests like most other birds. Instead they lay their eggs on the ground in a sheltered place like a cave, hollow tree, rocky crevice or cliff or even in an abandoned building. I see a lot of Turkey Vultures so apparently that nesting strategy works well for them. California Condors are also carrion eaters and use the same nesting strategy but struggle with success in the wild. Unfortunately poor nesting success and other identified dangers continue to keep their free flying population fairly meager. Turkey Vultures are widely distributed and occur in nearly all of the Americas from southern Canada to the southern tip of South America. It is a permanent resident in the southern United States but northern birds may migrate south. It is found in a diverse range of habitats including deserts, grasslands, farm and rangeland, wetlands, foothills and mountains, as well as suburbia. They prefer open county without dense tree cover where they can easily take flight and enjoy the thermals. While soaring they resemble a dihedral (shallow V) and although they are master fliers, rarely flapping their wings, they appear unsteady by rocking and tilting in flight. Their slow, teetering flight allows them to fly low aiding them in detecting their next meal. Their body feathers are dark iridescent brown-black with highly contrasting silvery-gray flight feathers. Their short, hooked beaks are ivory-white against their bright red heads, juveniles’ heads are black. Their wing span is similar to Bald and Golden Eagles at around six feet and they can weigh over five pounds. The oldest wild Turkey Vulture was 16 while captive birds have lived to be 51 years old. Lead poisoning and outright killing of Turkey Vultures due to the false belief that they spread diseases (in reality they clean up the ecosystem!) are their main conservation concerns. Their population numbers remain strong with a global population estimated to be 18,000,000 individuals. Other interesting Turkey Vulture fun facts include: In the air a group of Turkey Vultures are called a “kettle” but on the ground they go by “committee” or a “wake”. Large groups of them roost together in trees and although I'm not sure what that’s called but that is an impressive sight! Gas and oil companies have been known to employ Turkey Vultures to detect pipeline leaks because the scent added to natural gas is similar to that of decaying flesh that they are so fond of.  Next time you see a Turkey Vulture soaring over our favorite monument, on the way to our favorite monument or even on your way home from school or work, give them a nod for doing a bang-up job of waste management!

Yeah, yeah, a weed free lawn looks nice if you are looking for boring uniformity but to a hungry little bee with a job, it’s a desert wasteland. Dandelions ( Taraxacum sp .) belong to the sunflower ( Asteraceae ) family. You probably won’t be shocked to learn that that’s the family that pretty things in your garden, like sunflowers and daisies, belong to. Asteraceae also contains the plants that give us food like lettuce, artichokes, canola and safflower oils, chicory, camomile and echinacea; medicinal herbs like arnica, wormwood, feverfew and a few annoying things like cocklebur and tarweed (I personally love the smell of tarweed). Asteraceae contains upwards of 30,000 species in 1,600 genera. Members of this family can be found pretty much anywhere in the world with the exception of Antarctica from hot to cold, wet to dry and from low desert to alpine. Some members of Asteraceae have flower heads that have disk and ray flowers. Disk flowers are what turn into sunflower seeds and the ray flowers are the outer strap like petals on a sunflower. Many species in the family develop a fluffy seed head (think dandelion fluff or the fuzzy stuff you cut out of an artichoke) called a pappus. The fluff starts out at the base of the ovary and as the flower and seeds mature it grows longer. It’s this fluff that acts like a parachute that gets carried by the wind to help disperse the seeds when they’re ready. Some species, like common cocklebur, have seeds with hooks (like velcro) that grab on the clothing or animal’s fur to aid in seed dispersal. I’m pretty confident that you’ve already figured out which type of seeds dandelions have (hint, they have the fluffy kind) which helps explain why they’re so prolific. Being very hardy and tolerant of freezing temperatures as well as drought conditions once they’re established also helps in their quest for world domination - or at the very least the conquest of your yard. Dandelions thrive in full sun but can also tolerate partial shade and a wide diversity of soil types. Each flower has approximately 20,000 individual seeds (!) but the plant can also spread from root fragments which is why it’s important to remove the entire taproot if you’re trying to get rid of them. Weedy plant species are described as thriving in disturbed environments, often becoming invasive and problematic. Weedy species survive in adverse conditions by reproducing quickly and dispersing widely, often outcompeting native species. Sound like anything you might recognize…? Most species that are commonly called dandelions are considered a weed and are native to Europe. But, they’re a pretty weed with their happy little sunshine yellow faces peeking out of a bright green dress. Despite being a bother to gardeners, they are an important food source for bees and butterflies. Because they are one of the first blossoms to appear in spring, dandelions are often one of the only vital food sources for our pollinator friends. They are also an important food source for other wildlife species such as birds, hares, rabbits and rodents - some of which are important food sources for other carnivorous wildlife species. The entire dandelion plant is edible to humans and wildlife and is more nutritious than many common vegetables. Dandelions contain high amounts of antioxidants, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and vitamins A, Bs, C, E and K. The roots can be roasted and used as a coffee substitute, the young leaves are less bitter than mature greens and are used in salads and the flowers steeped as a tea, made into wine or even baked goods. I don’t know if this will entice anyone to try them but my iguana devoured dandelion greens! I found them in my neighborhood grocery store right next to the other greens. Farmer’s Markets also often have dandelion greens available. Dandelions were also traditionally used in herbal medicine and made into tinctures and tonics to aid in liver and kidney function. They also reduce inflammation and act as a diuretic to help remove toxins. It is also thought that dandelions may assist with control of blood sugar and can also possibly improve digestion. There are many ongoing studies that indicate that dandelions may have several other health benefits as well. And here’s something else unexpected! Dandelions are known as “dynamic accumulators” and provide a friendly service to your garden. Because they have such deep taproots they are able to pull nutrients from deeper soil layers and once the dandelion dies, those nutrients become available for other plants to use. So quite literally, a dead dandelion is a good dandelion. But, they have many positives too!