The vulture suffers from a poor public image. Perpetually
cast as the villain, the vulture is viewed as predatory,
ominous and just plain ugly. In defense of vultures and other
creatures like them, let's take an imaginary tour of the
world as it would be in the absence of scavengers and
decomposers.
On our right is a deer that died of natural causes.
Although it died fifty years ago, it seems perfectly intact,
fur and all. On our left is a tree that fell during a storm
at the turn of the previous century. A good kick reveals that
the wood is as hard as ever. The ground on which we are
walking is not actually ground, but a meter-thick pile of
fallen leaves, animal waste and dead insects, all in pristine
condition. In fact, as we take stock of our surroundings, we
see that the few living shrubs, sparrows and squirrels are
greatly outnumbered by their dead counterparts. Something is
terribly wrong...
In the natural order of things, every species is part of a
food chain with other species in its habitat. At the bottom
of the food chain are producers, like plants and algae. They
use the sun's energy to convert simple compounds from the air
and soil into sugar, an energy-rich molecule that is useful
as food. Herbivores (plant eaters) like deer, cattle and
rabbits feed on plants in order to use their sugar for
energy. Herbivores, in turn, are food for carnivores (meat
eaters) such as hawks and wolves. Some carnivores are eaten
by other carnivores that are even higher on the food
chain.
Dead leaves, tree trunks and animals are storehouses of
useful molecules like sugars, proteins and fats, but these
molecules are trapped and destined to go to waste. There are
two ways for these important materials to re-enter the cycle.
One way is scavengers like the vulture.
Scavengers occupy a special niche in the ecosystem -- they
are carnivores that eat dead animals. Vultures put
those food molecules trapped in the flesh of a dead deer to
good use and clean up the carcass, too. Where scavengers
leave off, decomposers pick up. Decomposers are smaller
organisms like bacteria, worms and fungi, which eat or absorb
dead organic material, break it down and return simple
molecules to the environment.
Decomposers are responsible for the decay and eventual
disappearnace of a dead tree or a deer's skeleton, and they
release the chemical components of the tree and deer to the
soil. As a result, the soil is enriched, and these molecules
are available to be take up by plants and begin their journey
up the food chain once again.
In Parshas Lech Lecha, Hashem commanded Avrom to offer "three
heifers, three goats and three rams, a dove and a young
pigeon" as a covenant-promise that Avrom would have offspring
to inherit the gifts Hashem had given him (Bereishis
15:80. When he split open the heifers, goats and rams, "birds
of prey descended upon their carcasses" and Avrom chased them
away. `Ayit' are birds of prey, perhaps vultures, that
feed on dead animals. Rashi explains here that the birds of
prey symbolize Dovid Hamelech and that this scene represents
Hashem impeding Dovid Hamelech from destroying the nations of
the world.
Rashi's analogy gives us a glimpse into the positive and
negative aspects of the vulture. While Dovid had good
intentions, Hashem prevented him from succeeding in his goal,
because the time for wiping out the nations will only be ripe
when Moshiach comes.
Similarly, the vulture has an important job to perform in
nature. However, in its eagerness, it circles above potential
prey, waiting for an opportunity for a meal before the time
is right.
And this is how the vulture earned its poor reputation.
