Wildlife Watch: The Black Vultures

If you've been a visitor to Graeme Park lately, you may have noticed a few ominous looking figures hanging around (and no, we don' t mean our ghosts!). We've had a pair of black vultures on site for the past season, perching on the barn roof, fences, trees, and chimneys. According to the Cornell All About Birds website, black vultures are very social birds with strong family loyalty. They will aggressively prevent non-relatives from roosting with them or following them to food. They form pair bonds and will continue to feed their young for up to 8 months after fledging. They lay their eggs on the ground and both parents will take turns incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks. According to the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center, the babies are very susceptible to imprinting and if raised by humans will not be able to be released into the wild.

While they eat carrion, they do not have a great sense of smell, and therefore will follow their red-headed relative, the turkey vulture, to food. While the turkey vulture is slightly larger, they are more solitary, so the social black vultures are then able to drive them away once they find the food. 

A few interesting (and kinda gross) facts about the black vulture. If threatened, they will throw up their food. According to Wikipedia, this defense mechanism helps to lighten their load so they can take off quicker and also may distract whatever it is that might be trying to prey on them - it will go for the regurgitated food rather than the bird. Their stomach acid is highly corrosive and will allow them to digest putrid food infected with bacteria that would be lethal to other scavengers. They will also urinate down their legs, an act which kills the bacteria they pick up from walking through carcasses and also acts as a cooling method. 

What Is It? Where Is It? (August): Quintal Vase

This month's "What is It? Where is It?" got lots of correct guesses of "a vase" through our Facebook page, but no one got the specific type of vase. It is officially known as a "quintal" or "five finger" vase. The form was originally developed by the Dutch to display tulips and was copied by 18th century English potters. They were popular because they allowed for a fuller looking arrangement with minimal flowers - today we might make a small cluster of bud vases to achieve the same effect.

Graeme Park has two of these vases, both displayed in the master bedroom. Ours are reproductions made in Holland and the United States. 

What Is It? Where Is It? (August)

We're nearing the end of August already - can you believe Labor Day Weekend is just two weeks away? Of course this means it's time for another exciting edition of "What Is It? Where Is It?" - our monthly guessing game where you, dear reader, try to guess what is pictured in the photograph and where it is located at Graeme Park. We've covered the lifting stone, brazier, portrait of Ann Graeme, butter churn, door counter weight, and marriage marks so far and hope you've learned a little something about items in our collection and the architecture of the buildings. So, what do you think the below object is? I'll give you a hint: it's not a ceramic baseball mitt. 

Let the guessing begin! You can post your responses here in a comment or on our Facebook link. We'll be back next week with the answer. Also, don't forget we're presenting a Living History Theater program on the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 next Sunday - it a great opportunity to sneak in a little learning before school starts and entertaining too.