Vultures have a speckled reputation. I am not sure how it started, but perhaps the diet of carcasses puts people off. There is a quartet of vultures in The Jungle Book that offer to include Mowgli in their circle. 

 

"That's what friends are for!" they promise. 

 

I watched a documentary describing the unique contribution that these birds make to the ecosystem. They are not birds of prey, as it happens. Vultures have neither the anatomy nor the instinct to chase anything that runs. But a flock of them can finish off every remain from a decomposing cow's skeleton in an hour. 

 

You might think little of it. Yet the scientists pointed out what a marvelous feat this is. If an animal dies from disease or poison, the danger can spread. But when vultures consume it, they eradicate that potential. When anthrax and rabies enter the vultures' stomach the power disappears. The scavenger's digestive fluid is as potent as hydrochloric acid. Which means that no one else gets hurt. 

 

The other day I was poised to take a picture of something unsightly, for the purpose of sending it to someone with a comment about how bad it was. In that moment, the phone rang, and I answered it. After the call I wondered why I would waste anyone's time by passing on a complaint. There have been times I retold snarky stories, which of themselves were lifeless. 

 

It is my aspiration to let such poisons as gossip, and contempt end with me. That's what friends are for.