Vultures get a bad rap, if you ask us. Sure, they're kind of funny-looking and associated with death, and they do a lot of things we find disgusting. But they play an important role in the ecosystem, particularly in the Sonoran Desert.
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum near Tucson is celebrating that role with Vulture Culture, an interactive exhibit that opens this weekend (Saturday and Sunday, December 19 and 20). From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days, visitors can enjoy kids activities, food and other fun stuff.
In designing the exhibit, the museum's staff sought "to create innovative methods for educating guests about the seemingly gross habits of the vulture," says Craig Ivanyi, the museum's executive director. Those habits include vomiting and urinating on their legs. And, you know, gorging on dead animals.
The exhibit's two turkey vultures have been together for more than 15 years. There's also a black vulture committee (a group of vultures is called a committee, venue or volt). Visitors will be able to compare their outstretched arms with the wingspan of a vulture, and to "experience being a vulture through the eyes of one," the museum says.
The museum is situated on 98 acres west of Tucson. In addition to the new exhibit, it features 230 native animal species, botanical gardens, an art gallery, an aquarium and more. It's open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For more information, click here.