The seasonal lake at our local nature preserve has retreated to a shallow pool and dead fish now break its surface, decaying in the autumn sun. Their stench has attracted a large flock of turkey vultures, picking their way among the corpses or lounging on the mudflats, oblivious to the rancid fumes.
Indeed, the dry, sunny weather of autumn provides many of these feasts each year, a welcome addition to the vultures' regular diet of roadkill and leftovers. We might be appalled by the appearance and habits of these large scavengers but they provide a valuable service, cleaning up the dead and recycling their carcasses.
Ironically, heavy rains moved into central Missouri yesterday. While these autumn rains might temporarily swell the lake waters, the runoff will arrive too late for the fish. Whatever remains after the vulture feast will be claimed by worms, beetles and other scavengers or will nourish the aquatic plants that appear next spring.
