Basejumper.com - archive

here I am in Louisiana, scouting out a beautiful 300 ft tower. old decommissioned freestander with a large platform. gorgeous landing area.

as I drive up, I see 6 or so large birds circling. these are the big kind. larger than hawks. the tower must be sweet as a couple dozen of these guys are perched all over the structure! no visible nests, just plenty of talons and beaks.

there is a wooded area 100-200 yards away. 'course the tower dwarfs all of them.

I'm guessing if they like the tower during the day, they'll be there at night. maybe in a month or two they'll head north.

thoughts?/suggestions?/advice?

thanks!

are they vultures? if so they wont attack, or most likely wont. youd spook them, and theyd kaa which might spook you so be ready for it. we have one that has ravens living on it that startle me sometimes, its when there silent and swoop in colse to investigate that freaks me out the most.

Yah, my guess would be vultures as well given that you are totally in vulture country. They will fly away and return when you are done. Other large birds are much more solitary, vultures hang in big STINKY packs. Get ready for the smelly mess of the century, and have fun.

Look up buzzard or vulture on google. Look at images and see if one of the pictures is the same as the birds you see.

Most likely they'll just fly away until sometime after you leave the structure. There are a lot of Turkey Vultures on a certain structure around here. They just fly away. Sometimes you can pass one or two of them without disturbing them if they are sleeping.

I've walked up the stairs on a local object, right past large falcons sleeping on the railing before. They don't bother you.

If there are bird kids or unhatched bird kids, then you may have some trouble.

edit: I must be slackin, you guys beat me buy several minutes.

from memory and a few images, it looks like I stumbled across a "venue" of turkey vultures. I spotted the "kettle" circling above the site.

it seems they have some rather offensive habits, like vomitting and defecating on themselves.

could prove interesting...

bring your B gear if they are going to poop on it.

gotta like this part:
"Vulture poop is actually a sanitizer! Their uric acid is so strong (because of the nature of their diets) that it kills bacteria."

while it doesn't say how it reacts to nylon, I doubt it is good!

My guess is that they're not headed north, they will patiently wait for you...

just shoot them !!!!!

We have a tower that is named "Buzzard" because of them....

As proved by Naptown one night, yelling and waving your arms like King Kong on top of the empire state building does not make buzzards go away. It does make your jump buddy laugh though

I'll settle for letting sleeping dogs lie (or rather sleeping turkey vultures roost). if they choose to let me be, I'm happy to show the same consideration.

they only hang out if someone is going to go in
they know so ig u see vultures dont jump its gonna be bad news i never jump if i see a bird in the sky but thats just me
clouds are bad news 2 man if god doesnot want u flicking he will make it cloudy so dont jump when our lord and savior doesnt want u to

Is that what you were doing? I couldn't tell with you cowering behind me

I see these birds on almost every day tower jump. They are very curious and as interested in you as you are in them. No, they do not propose any threat. I actually like them around. Especially when I am about 1200' or so and they just keep flying with, and around me. The higher I go, the higher they go, and they just keep following. I look at them as my liitle flying friends. Gives a really cool visual, and they mean no harm.
They are just waiting for you to bounce, so they can eat you...

Just jump it bro.

I thought last night would be a nice opportunity to be neighborly. the haze, waning moon, and impending fog made for a dark night. so I went out to introduce myself.

as I climbed, the winds grew noticably. that might be why the "venue" was absent.

that left doing a solo... maybe next time I'll have company.

The only real hazard from buzzards is when you harrass them or shoot them they will vomit partially digested carrion on you. They are nearly impervious to gunshot for some reason. Shooting one is highly illegal since their role in the ecosystem is critical. They eat all the roadkill that would otherwise putrify in a disgusting diseased-filled maggot-filled bacterial pile.

 

Yup hunters often use 12 gauges, even 10 if they don't feel confident enough

The thing is, don't try your pellet gun, you will only get them mad and you'r gonna look like this