Africa’s scavenging animals; vultures, hyenas and jackals, never topped any list of the most popular animals, despite the crucial ecological function they perform.
White-backed vulture
Black-backed jackal
Spotted hyena
“Creepy” is the theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge.
DeWetsWild 
So many turkey buzzards flew over me when I was moving into my apartment last fall. I told them to get lost, lol!
You must’ve been dead tired by then! 😉
I’m just glad we don’t have hyenas on this side of the Atlantic. The coyotes with their barking and yowling are bad enough out here in the counry. Vultures we have, of a different type, but they are still vultures. They only eat dead things, unlike hyenas and coyotes. I don’t know about jackals. They kind of remind me of foxes.
It is true Cris, hyenas and jackals are quite adept at hunting and certainly don’t deserve their cowardly, scavenging reputations! I’d guess our jackals fill the same ecological niche as coyotes do in North America, eating a wide variety of meat and even parts of plants and fruits when the time calls for it.
Good choices for *creepy*. It’s true they don’t get any respect. Great picture of the vulture.
Thanks very much, Joanne!
Right so, it’s creepy to think what popularity these days is all about.. 🍸
That’s so true! And a subject all its own!
Ag en ek is dan so lief vir die jakkalsies…
Ons ook Tannie Frannie, ons ook!
Vultures certainly are creepy looking birds with even more creepy habits. To have them circling above your head would also be a creepy feeling.
So true Pommepal! They’re not the prettiest of birds, yet a beautiful example of form suiting function!
I agree and very necessary to keep disease down.
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These are awesome especially the night time hyena. 😊
Thank you very much, Alison!
We’d be in a lot of trouble without scavengers! Good choices.
janet
That’s the honest truth Janet! Thanks for the kind words!
Die foto van die hiëna is beslis creepy. Vertrou hom vir geen oomblik nie. Baie mooi voorbeelde as mens dink aan die manier waarop hul die wêreld skoon hou
Dit is so Ineke. Baie mense onderskat hienas, veral die gevlekte soort.
Wanneer mens hierdie diere se funksie verstaan,verloor hulle hul “creepy” gevoel.Ek is so bly daar is aasvoëls,hiënas en jakkalse om die natuur skoon te hou.Die massiewe Swartaasvoël (lappetface)is veral in vlug,iets besonders om te sien.
Ek stem geheel-en-al met jou saam Dina. Vir my is dit weer die hienas wat my aandag die meeste vasvang, hulle lyk altyd so vasberade en doelgerig.
Dis ongelukkig dat hiënas gesien word as lafhartig.Dis ‘n verskriklike mite.Eintlik is hulle baie gevaarlik.Ek is mal oor hulle kleintjies.
Good description.
Thank you Dendymactoodle!
True – great entry!
Thank you Ann-Christine!
Great entry for the challenge. 🙂
Thank you Sylvia!
Maybe creepy but in a strange way fascinating too – very well captured for the theme… 🙂
They are indeed very fascinating Drake, and so terribly misunderstood!
Sure you are right – often we human judging from our own world and not the life of nature.
The hyena at night is the creepiest. But as you say they provide a crucial ecological function. Here we only have vultures in the south of Georgia no hyenas or jackals.
Thanks Jim! Are your vultures also becoming scarcer, or do they occur in good numbers?
There are four types, I don’t know the situation of the vultures, we saw some Egyptian vultures when we visited the border with Azerbaijan.
That’s a sighting many South African birdwatchers would pay a lot of money for, Jim. The Egyptian vulture has become extremely rare in our part of the world.
We have Egyptian Vulture, Griffin Vulture, Cinereous Vulture and Lammergeier. I don’t know much about them but my friend’s husband wrote a book about them.
We also have the lammergeier and three different types of griffons, but I am not familiar with the Cinereous Vulture – will have to go look it up in Wikipedia. Thanks Jim!