We Have Cute and Not so Cute

One of the great things about our office is the fun variety of critters we have come through our door.  We get cute things like this Flemish Giant rabbit (see left).  This guy runs about 10 pounds, but they can get much bigger than that.  We also have him next to a dwarf rabbit, who weighs just a few pounds, so you can see how “giant” this Giant really is (click on their picture for a full view).

We also get some not so cute things.  Say, this Turkey Vulture, for example.  A face truly only a mother could love.  Correction, only a Turkey Vulture mother could love!  He was found on someone’s front porch unable to fly.  The Black Hawk Wildlife Rehabilitation project brought him to Dr. Cherney for care.

As you can see from his wingspan, a quite majestic six feet or more, he really is a beautiful bird (click on the picture for the full image).  After checking him over, he had a broken wing at one time and it did not heal properly.  Because of the troubles with flying, he will not be released into the wild.  He will get to live out his days as an educational bird for a wildlife center.  He was rather calm and pleasant as far as Turkey Vultures go, so he should make a great bird for others to see.  Normally turkey vultures will vomit as a defense mechanism and this guy kept his lunch to himself. We were thankful.

Click the picture to see this bald-is-not-so-beautiful head.

An interesting note about his head.  Besides being slightly unappealing, it does serve a purpose!  The head of a turkey vulture is bald (click on the picture for a close up) so it is does not get dirty when eating.  Because they eat dead animals, they often times reach far into a carcass for food.  By having a smooth head, they don’t collect any unhealthy “leftovers” from the meal. Pretty neat design if you ask us.