The Legend of the Belled Buzzard

Going on ten years ago, I was out checking on some game cameras here in Central Texas. I had placed my cameras along the Lampasas River below the Stillhouse Hollow Dam. My cameras never captured anything unusual while in this location, but I did experience something a bit odd one day while servicing them. I was changing out batteries on one of the cameras when I thought I heard the tinkling of a bell. It was a sound akin to that made by a small, round “sleigh bell.” I turned to look around, but saw nothing. I started to get on with the task at hand when I heard the bell again. This time, the sound seemed to emanate from somewhere above me. I looked up into the trees but saw only a few black vultures (Coragyps atratus) lingering about. The whole thing was a bit odd, but – and you know this if you have followed the blog for any length of time – I have had much stranger experiences while out in the woods so I just finished the chore of refreshing my trail camera. I did not hear the sound again that day, or on any of my subsequent trips to the location, and thought so little of it I did not mention it in the blog post I made later regarding the photos I had captured on that particular set. I had not thought about that day in years, but a recent discovery brought it all back and made me wonder about what I might have heard that day.

            Recently, I was thumbing through a book called Unexplained! By Jerome Clark at the Temple Public Library. I was flipping through the usual chapters on the UFOs, sasquatches, yetis, and Loch Ness monsters of the world when my eyes fell upon an entry titled “Belled Buzzard.” Never having heard of such a thing, I began reading. Imagine my surprise to find out that many odd stories have been published over the years – most between 1860 and 1950 – about a “belled buzzard.” Reports spanned the continent from the Dakotas to Florida, but a couple of locales popped up more than any others: Indiana and, you guessed it, Texas.

            The origin of the belled buzzard legend is hazy at best. The earliest sightings seem to have occurred in 1869 in Tennessee. These encounters were documented in the Memphis Appeal in the early summer months of that year and the stories were picked up and reprinted by other newspapers across the country. The term belled buzzard is not used in the articles, but related were the tales of two separate accounts where multiple people spotted a buzzard (a colloquial term for a vulture) with a small bell around its neck. The sightings took place on a farm near Burnsville and witnesses described the bird seen as seeming “more than usually wild.” 

Following are snippets of the earliest Texas accounts I could locate:

 

 Pilot Point, April 25, 1893. “The belled buzzard was seen…by Mrs. Keys and family on their farm near town and as usual it was not accompanied by any of its kind” (Dallas Morning News, April 30)

 

Erath County, March 18, 1894. “Col. J. L. Hansel…always doubted reports concerning the famous ‘belled buzzard.’ He did not believe until yesterday afternoon that such a buzzard existed. He was out in his yard when above him he heard a bell ringing. Looking up he saw a buzzard with a bell hanging on its neck” (Dallas Morning News, March 20).

 

Nunn, early June, 1894. “M. K. Ownsly and Will James caught a belled buzzard… The bell was branded ‘J’ and was attached to the buzzard’s neck by a leather collar” (Dallas Morning News, June 15)

 

Longview, June 27, 1894. “A buzzard wearing a sheep bell was seen by several citizens yesterday morning. The belled buzzard has been seen at numerous places in this state…Mr. O. H. Methvin and his son, over whose corn field he circled several times, thought it was a belled sheep or calf in their corn and tried some time to find it” (Dallas Morning News, June 29).

Chatfield, April 3, 1898. “’The belled buzzard’ has been captured. It was caught…last Sunday. The bell consisted of an oyster can securely tied about the bird’s neck with a ten-penny nail as the bell clapper. It was trapped on the farm of Mr. T. B. Roberts, liberated from the burden, which had cut into the flesh, and the bird turned loose. The can is on exhibition at Shook’s drug store” (Dallas Morning News, April 10, quoting the Corsicana Chronicle, Texas).

 

Woodbury, October 29, 1900. “J. C. Goldfrey…informed The News correspondent that the celebrated belled buzzard spent the day on his farm yesterday. He saw it several times and distinctly heard the bell which he described as having a tin sound” (Dallas Morning News, October 31).

 

Falfurrias, early February, 1931. “A belled buzzard may be seen daily in the Flowella section…Mrs. J. F. Dawson and her son, Jimmie, were working in the yard…when suddenly they heard the tinkle of a small bell, seemingly out of the blue sky. After straining their eyes in every direction for a short time, they discovered  his buzzardship lazily floating along, while with each flap of his wings the little bell tinkled” (San Antonio Express, February 15).

 

Just where did this belled bird or birds - for surely it had to have been more than one vulture responsible for the plethora of sightings - come from? One of the origin stories that seems the most credible came from physician C. A. Tindall of Shelbyville, Indiana. While being interviewed by an International News Service Reporter in March of 1930, the good doctor – after discussing a recent sighting – said, “It calls to mind an incident that occurred about 1879 or 1880 on the old home farm four miles out of Shelbyville.” Dr. Tindall goes on to say that he and his brothers discovered a buzzard’s nest on the family property and were able to catch a hen guarding her eggs. “We put a sheep bell with a leather strap around the body of the buzzard,” he said. “In front of one wing and behind the other. As the buzzard soared away the bell tinkled.”

            The other story of the how the belled buzzard got its start caught my eye as it originates from Belton, Texas. (I teach school in the Belton ISD.) In a 1968 interview with the Belton Journal, eighty-year-old Irma Sanford Eddleman was coerced by her daughter to tell a unique story from her childhood. One day (the specific year is not mentioned), a young Irma and her little brother noticed several vultures circling the carcass of a recently deceased chicken that had been disposed of behind their house. “My little brother and I decided to catch one,” Irma said. “I did. It jerked me almost two feet off the ground, trying to get away, and how it stank. But I held on, and sent my brother into the barn to get a length of wire that had a bell on it. We wrapped the wire around that bird’s neck, and let it go. My father worried for days about a bell ringing up in the air; he could hear it in the early morning up in the sky. My brother and I did not say a word.” Ms. Eddleman went on to express regret for the prank. “I’m not at all proud of that,” she said. “It was the unthinking act of a child, and not a kind one.”

            While the origin story of the belled buzzard may be hazy, what can be said for sure is that for the better part of four decades sightings of the unfortunate vulture were reported in newspapers on a semi-regular basis. After that, newspaper stories regarding the famous belled buzzard became increasingly rare, though they never went away completely.

            As might be expected, the belled buzzard achieved something akin to mythical status among rural Americans living through the heyday of sightings. To some, the appearance of this belled vulture was a harbinger of misfortune or even death. In other places, however, the sighting of the belled buzzard was anything but a bad omen. To some, the appearance of the famous bird over a rural homestead was “regarded as an infallible sign that there was to be an addition to the family. Mothers instead of telling their children of the stork’s visit informed them that the belled buzzard was the bearer of the little one” (Philadelphia Record, 1908). The legend became so well-known that a story, written by Irvin S. Cobb, about it was published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1912.

            Like today, skeptics abounded during the belled buzzard craze. Witnesses were often ridiculed and public questioning regarding their state of mental health and drinking habits were standard. The possible existence of such a bird was deemed too ridiculous to take seriously and, therefore, had to be figments of fevered/drunken imaginations or outright fabrications. Clark writes in his book, “In 1897, when mystery airships (a late nineteenth-century equivalent to modern UFOs) were reported in various parts of the country, witnesses received the same treatment. In fact, mystery airships and belled buzzards were sometimes mentioned in the same humorous or unflattering sentences.”

            As a native Texan, I can tell you that there is no tradition of belling buzzards – nor any other type of bird – here. Neither has it ever been a common practice across the American South or Midwest. I find it plausible – as the previously mentioned origin stories relate - that someone somewhere caught and attached a bell to either a black or turkey vulture at some point as a prank, inadvertently birthing a legend. No doubt, there were some copycats who duplicated the stunt. (It is the only way so many birds could have been seen across such a vast amount of the continent over so many years.) For whatever reason, sightings of belled buzzards are all but non-existent now, but in their day the existence of these mysterious vultures was as hotly debated and controversial as the possible existence of the sasquatch or UFOs are today.

            As I close, my mind once again drifts back to that day along the Lampasas River a decade ago. I heard what I heard and numerous vultures were present. Is it possible the belled buzzard – who may have gotten his start in nearby Belton – had returned home after all these years? Surely, not.

            Right?

Sources: 

Clark, Jerome. Unexplained! Third ed., VISIBLE INK PR., 2012. 

Cobb, Irvin S. “The Belled Buzzard.” The Saturday Evening Post, 28 Sept. 1912. 

“Indiana University Bloomington.” ""Belled Buzzard" from Library", http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/images/item.htm?id=http%3A%2F%2Fpurl.dlib.indiana.edu%2Fiudl%2Flilly%2Fhohenberger%2FHoh006.091.0016. 

Lindaseccaspina, and Lindaseccaspina. “Don't Fear the Cow Bell - the Belled Vulture.” Lindaseccaspina, 31 May 2021, https://lindaseccaspina.wordpress.com/2021/05/31/dont-fear-the-cow-bell-the-belled-vulture/. 

            

            

 

            

Waxahachie Field Report: An Interesting Day

I made a long overdue trip up to my study site near Waxahachie, TX yesterday. Just to remind everyone, and alert new readers to what I’m up to there, this is the area where several horses and a mule have suffered injuries from what the property owners feel is a big cat of some kind. Both property owners claim sightings of cougars and a large black cat of some kind over the last couple of years. One of them claims to have actually been semi-charged by a large cougar-sized cat that was very dark in color one night while feeding the horses. I say “semi-charged” because the cat did stop short and retreat back into the brush.

Currently, I have two game cameras on the property and have spent a little time still-hunting and hoping for an opportunity to see for myself just what might be stalking the property. Up to this point I have had no luck finding anything concrete that might prove the presence of a big cat of some kind on the property. While my trip yesterday failed to produce a photo or a sighting, it did provide some tantalizing tidbits that may point to the, at least occasional, presence of a large predator on the property.

I started the day by refreshing the two cameras, which are located adjacent to a small pond near the rear of the property. One camera was placed overlooking a game trail which wound from a heavily wooded area bordering Waxahachie Creek and yielded a lot of photos. Upon checking the card, I was a bit dismayed to see that the camera was taking nice night shots but the day shots were poor in quality. The edges of all daytime photos are very fuzzy and blurred. The area that remained in focus seemed to get smaller with each passing day. I found it odd since all of the night shots were perfectly focused. This obviously meant it was not just a dirty lens. A bit confused, I downloaded the images, changed the batteries, and left the camera to continue its work. I moved to the second camera that overlooks an area the property owners have taken to calling scat rock. This is a rocky area on the east side of the pond where loads of predator scat has been found. The scat contains bones and hair and is white in color. When I tell you there is a lot of it at this location I am not engaging in hyperbole. The area is covered. It is clearly a latrine area for some predatory animal. I was very excited to see lots of new scat directly in front of the camera location. My excitement was short-lived, however, when I found that the camera had malfunctioned and failed to take even one photo. This is the second time this particular camera has malfunctioned and I am fed up with it. I went ahead and fiddled with it a bit, changed the batteries, and redeployed it. I changed the settings so that it is now programmed to take still shots instead of videos in the hopes that would work. I had little to lose, as I had no new camera with which to replace this one. I will have a replacement ready for deployment next time.

I spent the rest of the afternoon walking the more remote portions of the property. I found an area situated on a long, tree-covered berm that separates two portions of the property and sat down, rifle in hand, in the hopes that the problem cat might wander out in front of me. Within 15 minutes, I began to hear a large animal of some kind moving about in a heavy thicket about 50 yards in front of me. The volume of the noise led me to believe this was a substantial animal. It moved about a good bit, even thrashing about quite violently at one point, but I was never able to obtain a visual. After more than an hour of this, I decided to move and loop around in the hopes of getting a look at the hidden animal. I retreated to the opposite side of the berm and quietly hiked approximately 200 yards to the north. I then climbed back over the berm and made my way back toward my original location as stealthily as possible. The hope was that the mystery animal would have seen me leave but not sensed me returning (the wind was in my favor so it should not have winded me). I had crept to within 25 yards of my original location when I found something I’ve never come across before.

I spied what appeared to be a thick leg bone (probably from a hog) wedged into the “y” of a tree. The bone was about five and a half-feet off the ground. At the base of the tree was another bone. This particular tree had recently been snapped off only a few feet above the spot where the leg bone was wedged. The limb that shot off from the snapped trunk had also been broken just beyond the bone’s location. In my many years of hiking about in the woods, mountains and swamps, I’ve never found a bone in a tree. Ever. I photographed the scene and then examined the bone but found no obvious signs of gnawing. I decided to replace it. I didn’t really know what else to do. It was beginning to get dark by this time so I started making my way back toward my truck.

I was still about a quarter of a mile away from my truck when I heard another (same?) animal moving about in the tree line to my left. As before, this was obviously a heavy animal of some kind. It was crashing about the brush and creating quite a ruckus. I wasn’t too worried about it being a cat. No cat carries on like that. I was guessing it was a big hog as the property is covered up with them. I couldn’t believe I couldn’t see whatever it was that was making so much noise. It couldn’t have been more than 20 yards from me. It was right THERE but I saw nothing. I continued walking and it paralleled me. When I stopped it would stop, though it continued to be loud. It was only when I got to within 100 yards of the truck that whatever it was moved off. I could hear it as it retreated.

I was a bit puzzled by this mystery animal’s behavior but, honestly, was more intrigued by the bone I had found wedged in a tree. I shared the pictures with several friends, all of whom have years of outdoor experience. As you might imagine, I received all manner of possible explanations. As far as animals that might have carried the bone up into the tree, raccoons, bobcats, porcupines and vultures were mentioned. One friend even mentioned the possibility that the bone might have become lodged in the tree during a high water event. A human culprit was also suggested. Everyone had different ideas. The one possible explanation that every single one of them mentioned was a big cat.

Mountain lions are not known to cache kills in trees. Generally, they cover kills with dirt, grass and leaf litter. This is generally pretty effective and since there are no other large carnivores in the area (that we know of) that might steal a kill it makes little since for cougars to expend the energy necessary to haul prey into a tree. It is a common misconception that all big cats do this. Leopards are really the only known big cat to cache kills in trees but only because of the presence of lions and hyenas. Mountain lions don’t have the same worries here in North America. Jaguars certainly are strong enough to cache prey in trees but have only been observed doing so on a few occasions. It is my understanding that the jaguars seen doing this only did so in order to avoid losing the kill to rising flood waters.

I suppose I should stand down a bit here. Clearly, this bone does not represent an entire carcass cached in a tree. It was one bone (though the additional bone at the base of the tree suggests it, too, might have been in the tree at one point). I cannot assume that there was an entire carcass in this tree at some point. I can only go with what I found. Since only one bone, even though it was quite substantial, was located, maybe a smaller animal did grab a piece of a carcass and enjoy a snack in the tree. As intriguing as this find might be to me, it does not prove a big cat is on the property.

The bone is another piece in an ever-expanding puzzle. Something has attacked the resident horses and mule on more than one occasion, these animals exhibit fearful behavior several times per month (I’ve seen it myself), a predator of some kind is leaving a LOT of scat on the property, and now something has deposited a leg bone in a tree. Add the anecdotal evidence of the big cat sightings reported by the landowners and the puzzle begins to take shape.

The puzzle remains incomplete, however. It is as if all the edge pieces are in place, forming a frame, but the middle pieces that reveal all the answers remain missing. I can only hope that with continued effort, I can find those middle pieces and solve this riddle once and for all.

More soon.

The Killer Vultures of Bell County

Vulture: Any one of several large birds that eat dead animals and have a small featherless head.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

I think most would agree with the definition above. Vultures are carrion eaters, nature’s vacuum cleaners. They fill a vital environmental niche. They are all over the state and are seen on an almost daily basis by all but the most urbanized Texans. They can be spotted perched high on power line towers, on the shoulder of roads cleaning up road kill, and riding warm thermals looking for and/or circling a sick or dying animal. Vultures are almost infinitely patient as they wait for their future meal to kick the bucket. How many western movies have featured a cowboy hero struggling for life under a blazing desert sun that looks up to see vultures circling ominously above him just waiting for him to give up the ghost? Vultures will wait and wait and wait...

…or will they?

There are two types of vultures that ride the warm air currents of the Lone Star State: the Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) and the Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus). Of the two species, the Black Vulture is the hardier bird. They are broad, thick-chested birds with short tails that often stay close to their Turkey Vulture cousins. They aren’t there just to keep good family relations, however. Black Vultures actually have a poor sense of smell and often follow Turkey Vultures, who have an excellent sense of smell, to food. Once the Black Vultures arrive, they force out the more slightly built Turkey Vultures who then have to wait and hope something is left over for them. But then, as mentioned before, vultures are the most patient of creatures. They will wait. Time is on their side. They are patience in the flesh…

…or are they?

In 2004, the Temple Daily Telegram ran a story about the duties of a Bell County trapper named Gary Silvers. In the article, Silvers detailed something very unusual. Vultures that actually killed live prey. Silvers said in the article that he was initially skeptical of the killer vulture claims being made by ranchers and rural landowners (interestingly, Silvers says he was more skeptical of the killer vulture claims than he was of black panther sightings). The calls and the claims continued to pour in, however, so, his interest piqued, Silvers decided to investigate. What he was able to observe startled him.

Silvers was present on a rural piece of land near Hartrick Bluff when he witnessed a violent vulture attack; the ferocity of which left him stunned. A heifer in the pasture Silvers was observing was giving birth to a calf when a half dozen or more Black Vultures swooped in and attacked. The first arrivals distracted and harassed the heifer long enough for a second group to descend upon the helpless calf.

“The vultures pecked the eyes out first,” said Silvers. “After that it was all over. It was a pretty gruesome scene.”

The black vultures exhibited a flock mentality and ferocity that is not usually associated with the species. So what got into these vultures that turned them from patient scavengers into predatory killers? Silvers also noted the presence of Turkey Vultures in the trees surrounding the pasture where this all took place but they did not take part in the attack. They roosted stoically until the calf was dead.

“I think it’s just a case of the calves being in the wrong place at the wrong time, “Silvers said in the 2004 article. “There’s something about the calves and calving, something about the smell, I guess, that draws them for some reason.”

My interest level in the killer vulture phenomenon jumped up considerably when I found out the attack Gary Silvers observed took place on the property of someone I know. Someone I know quite well, as a matter of fact.

Roy Northen has lived in the Hartrick Bluff area for decades and has just about seen it all. I can personally vouch that he is a man of impeccable character and not prone to exaggeration. In fact, he might be the most understated man I have ever met (To illustrate, Mr. Northen, a rabid University of Texas Longhorn football fan, once described Earl Campbell as a “pretty fair running back.”) Mr. Northen is quoted in a 2007 article written by Clay Coppedge on the Country World website regarding the incident.

“There’s more and more of these new vultures (Black Vultures). The old vultures (Turkey Vultures) would wait for something to die, then they would have a big feast if you let them,” he said. “The new vultures don’t mind at all going after a calf.”

Vulture killings in the area aren’t common but they are no longer rare. Silvers, in the same Country World article, estimated that Bell County ranchers lost between $15,000-$20,000 in 2006 (the year before the article was published).

It seems there is little that can be done to curb the predatory vulture issue in Central Texas. It seems you can kill just about any mammal with a standard hunting license but almost all birds are off limits. Black Vultures are no exception. The Migratory Bird Act is the main thorn in the side of those who would like to thin the vulture population a bit. Anyone seeking to kill a vulture must have a Special Purpose Master Migratory Bird Permit issued from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department. The permits are not always easy to get. Even those fortunate enough to obtain the permit are severely limited in the number of vultures they are allowed to cull. Based on my own observations of the Central Texas vulture population, far too few birds are taken to actually curb the issue. It is the equivalent of killing ten fire ants after you stir up a nest. It just isn’t enough to do any good.

The articles referenced for this post are several years old but do not make the mistake of thinking that the predatory behavior of Black Vultures in Central Texas has slowed or stopped. Quite the contrary is true. If anything, the behavior has increased. I have heard reports of several young goats being taken by Black Vultures over the last two years. These kids were not newborns either. They were several weeks old and strong enough to follow their mothers about. It is enough to make you wonder about some of the pets that disappear in these parts. Usually, coyotes or bobcats are blamed for such disappearances; sometimes owls are blamed. I would guess that hungry vultures capable of killing a calf are more than capable of taking small pets like cats and dogs.

Why Black Vultures have started to engage in predatory behavior is a mystery. Is it due to the severe drought conditions that have plagued Texas on and off for the last decade? Is it a natural adaptation made necessary by the fact that there are too many vultures and not enough carrion to go around? Nobody seems to have any answers.

It is true that predatory behavior in vultures is not completely unheard of. There are many, many cases where vultures dig in before the animal on which they are feeding is dead. There are also cases from around the world of vultures being opportunistic and feeding on an unlucky small mammal that wanders too close to a roosting location. The behavior of the Black Vultures in Bell County, however, seems different. These birds are organized and exhibit a brutality that is quite disturbing to witness. While the attacks are no more or less brutal than those undertaken by any other predator, they seem to have a greater effect on those that witness them as they come from a totally unexpected source.

Maybe the predatory behavior of these Black Vultures is anomalous. Maybe the behavior will lessen or stop altogether in the future. I just don’t know. One thing I can tell you, however, is that the “Killer Vultures” of Bell County are a reality. Are they a threat to people? No. Is their existence something to keep in mind when letting your pet out of the house? Yes. Their existence is certainly something that ranchers in the area are dealing with on, at least, a periodic basis.

How long will it be before the rest of us have to do the same?


Sources: http://www.countryworldnews.com/news-archives/2007/11-November/110807vultures.php
http://www.tdtnews.com/archive/article_0a7a2bee-7c09-522f-9785-d811fea891b8.html