Sciotoville had a spooky start to the morning when a murder of buzzards caused a bit of a stir outside the Scioto Shoe Mart. Around 8 a.m., concerned witnesses called police after spotting a flock of the ominous scavengers circling and pecking at an old truck parked on Harding Avenue.
According to witnesses, the buzzards looked like they’d found something dead in the bed of the vehicle—an unsettling sight that had folks wondering if the pickup was harboring something sinister.
Police arrived quickly and found plenty of buzzards loitering around the vehicle, but after a thorough check, they didn’t see anything suspicious inside. The bed of the truck contained only a couple of gas cans, and the passenger compartment was locked up tight. Even weirder? The truck didn’t have a license plate.
Officers ran the VIN number to track down the owner and filed a report—but no foul play was found, just some very interested birds.
So, Why All the Buzzards?
Buzzards, also known as turkey vultures, are nature’s clean-up crew. They feed on carrion—dead animals—and have an incredible sense of smell, capable of detecting decomposition from over a mile away. When they’re seen circling or congregating, it usually means something nearby is dead or rotting.
In this case, the birds may have picked up the scent of something that used to be in the truck—or maybe those gas cans just gave off an odor strong enough to confuse even a buzzard.
Either way, it’s never a good sign when these feathered grim reapers start circling. Locals might want to keep their noses—and their eyes—on the skies.
