People can't stop watching George, a playful vulture who grunts when he's happy
You'll never look at vultures the same way again.
Everybody loves George.
When thinking about a vulture, the words “sweet” and “adorable” probably aren’t the first to spring to mind.
But that’s just because you haven’t met George.
George is a 37-year-old turkey vulture with a penchant for mischief and a huge online following who lives at the American Eagle Foundation in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Having never learned to fly, George instead traipses about the avian sanctuary with his caretakers.
He also gets plenty of exercise causing trouble—his favorite method being “land sharking,” where he walks past someone all innocent-like, then lunges forward to peck their ankles. Ah, and let’s not forget George’s fondness for stealing trail mix out of nearby bags.
Below is a video (by GeoBeats Animals) showing a day in the life of this handsome bird:
All in all, George is just a curious bird who loves to play and be around people (other vultures…not so much) and his gregariousness is garnering a lot of love online.
"I love how he hops around and he looks quite majestic when he's basking in the sun," one YouTube commenter wrote.
Another exclaimed, "Holy Canoli... How CUTE is George!?"
Fun fact: While turkey vultures do mainly consume carrion, they enjoy fruit as well. George loves bananas and cantaloupe in particular, and—not having a voice box, a typical vulture trait—he will make loud grunts of joy while noshing. He's not just cute, folks. He's just like us.
Vultures might not have the most glamorous job, but it’s an essential one. As explained on George’s Instagram (yes, he’s an influencer), vultures are “nature’s clean-up crew,” eliminating disease-spreading bacteria, and other pathogens that live in a carcass.
This close association with death might cause people to view these birds of prey as creepy or sinister, but in reality there’s nothing inherently scary about them. In fact, our world is better because of them.
And with his rich personality, George is giving us even more reason to show vulture love.
Follow George’s vulture shenanigans on Instagram.