Sometimes the bear (or turkey buzzard) eats you.

Drove to Athens, GA today to pick up another set of o-rings for my lower unit. (I suspect, but my wife won't admit it, that she accidentally threw the first two away when she was helping me clean up the garage. Oh well, at least she was helping me when the o-rings got tossed.)

I've always been paranoid about having to buy something twice because of losing it and today bore that out. I drove over to Athens the back way, Hwy 82, because it would cut fifteen minutes off my normally 45 minute trip. The trip there was uneventful, but the trip home wasn't to be so.

About halfway home out in the country, there was a carcass on the opposite side of the road with a flock of turkey buzzards feasting on it. As I drove past, for reasons I can't fathom, one of the turkey buzzards takes flight and suddenly dive bombs the front of my truck. He crashed into my plastic grille and busted it all to pieces, knocking the blue Ford emblem completely off as well. Additionally, he put a significant dent in my radiator and I'm waiting to see if it's going to leak, requiring replacement.

I pulled off the road into a subdivision that the roads had been built, but no houses had been built. (Thank you recession.) The turkey buzzard was still in my grill and had to be pried out with a hammer handle.

Stopped at the Ford dealer when I got back to town. Their price for a new grill with a Ford emblem: $300.00 plus tax. Ouch. So I went home and got online. Found one online for $95.00 delivered and ordered it. Haven't found a reasonably priced emblem yet, but plan on ordering one.

Yep, the turkey buzzard got me. There went the cash for my starting battery I planned to buy today....

Sigh....

Sorry to hear about that Dave. I'm looking for a headlight where I hit a deer with my suv.

I wouldn't talk about putting him down too loudly.

Believe it or not, those things are federally protected and can be a bit of an issue depending on who heard the conversation.

Dang, that stinks. At least you weren't the buzzard. :LOL2:

Those sure were expensive O-rings. Could of been allot worse though.

My brother in law hit three in one week! Man those things STINK!

Hey, now, y'all are treadin' on thin ice here! That bird was a friend of mine.

I had a couple in my backyard a few years back. Never knew what they were or seen one. The wing span was huge. My wife grabbed the kids and ran inside. :LOL2:

I think they were chasing a baby squirrel on my deck.

lswoody said:

Sorry to hear about that Dave. I'm looking for a headlight where I hit a deer with my suv.

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I'm totally sympathetic. I hope it ends up being a reasonable cost.

Quackrstackr said:

I wouldn't talk about putting him down too loudly.

Believe it or not, those things are federally protected and can be a bit of an issue depending on who heard the conversation.

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Gotta wonder why. There are tons of those things in this area. Starting to become a nuisance.

Brine said:

Dang, that stinks. At least you weren't the buzzard. :LOL2:

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LOL Thanks Brine, that laugh eased the pain a bit.

Jim said:

Those sure were expensive O-rings. Could of been allot worse though.

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Yes, yes they were and yes, it could of been a lot worse. I'm glad the thing didn't hit the windshield. They're about the size of a fully grown chicken.

DaveInGA said:

Quackrstackr said:

I wouldn't talk about putting him down too loudly.

Believe it or not, those things are federally protected and can be a bit of an issue depending on who heard the conversation.

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Gotta wonder why. There are tons of those things in this area. Starting to become a nuisance.

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I agree with you there. The black ones are particularly nasty as they are somewhat predatory as well as being scavengers. The black vulture population around here has exploded in the last few years where we used to never see one.

uooo, uooo in my best Horseshack voice. I know why that buzzard hit your truck, the reason is circled in blue on the grill. :mrgreen:


You might want to invest in a grill guard. Around here we dont have to worry about Turkey Buzzards. We have to worry about deer, especially during the rut, which is coming soon.

Glad to hear everything turned out pretty good considering the circumstances.

True Story....

I recently was able to move into a lake front location. On the lake is a huge old white victorian house that it has been said was used in the filming on the movie The Amityville Horror...It looks real spookey and has like steeples on the roof. This spring, I was slowing cruising the shorline and when I got to this house There were about 10 - 15 Turkey vultures on top...some adults and some young ones...they would take off and fly around and come back to land...I was alomost like the Hitchcock movie The Birds...I was the weirdest thing I have ever seen.....

I will try and get some pictures of the hose to post later...

The location would be Silver Lake WIsconsin...Kenosha County....

Outdoorsman...

Man - i never knew they were protected. A buddy of mine had one end up in his front seat with him.