Image courtesy of Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-NC-SA
Joel Kontinen
What would you say about a vulture that vomits antiseptic
into its legs?
It is a Turkey
vulture (Cathartes aura) and it lives in Canada and South America. The vulture
eats carcases of dead animals.
They are large birds;
they give off a nifty escape mechanism. When they're threatened or scared,
turkey vultures regurgitate a foul, acidic substance around them.
But the most interesting
thing is that it vomits gastric juices that can burn their attackers’ skin and eyes.
This is a trait that the animal can thank intelligent design for it.
Source:
Lydia Smith 2025 Turkey vulture: The bird that vomits acid up to 10 feet and poops antiseptic onto its legs | Live Science 11 January
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