"Are you gonna eat us?" Rosie asked the vulture, who was soaring on the
wind high above the forest, with the girls held fast in it's claws.
    "No, ma'am, I already had lunch," The vulture responded.
    "What is your name?" Maxie questioned.
    "Buzz," The vulture answered.
    "Why did you save us, Mr. Buzz?" Wiggles asked politely.
    "Had nothin' better to do," Buzz said.
    "But aren't vultures evil and dangerous?  Don't they carry off children
from towns?" Rosie inquired.
    "Yeah, I heard that they are filthy...They throw up on themselves,"
Maxie added.
    "Wive's tales," Buzz answered, "You girls have been watchin' too much
television."
    "T.V. is fun!" Sammi exclaimed.
    "Well, vultures are an important part of the food chain," Buzz
explained. "We eat the remains of animals that were leftovers from the meals
of other carnivores, such as mountain lions, wolves, and so forth...Nothing
is wasted.  We do occasionally vomit on our legs for personal hygiene
(believe it or not!), because they become very unsanitary from crawling
around inside carcasses.  Doesn't seem to bother us though, it is part of
our evolutionary heritage.  We have our niche in the natural world, and we
are very good at what we do."
    "Now I have heard it all," Wiggles stated, quite taken aback by the
whole experience.
    "Woah!" Sammi exclaimed, simply fascinated by this newfound friend.
    "So you have no intentions of eating us?" Wiggles asked.
    "Not a chance," Buzz replied.
    "Where are we going?" Maxie questioned.
    "Well, I seem to have caught wind of a group of my kin hovering above
something or other...May be a fresh kill...I want to check it out.  I was on
my way there when I saw you four go off that waterfall...You know, I've
always been a sucker for pretty women."
    "Hmmm," Rosie said, "Buzz, where are we?"
    "Flying above the forest." Buzz answered, banking to the right in the
push of a swift thermal, "Don't you girls know where you are?"
    "No," Maxie stated.
    "Stick with me," Buzz offered, "I'll help you find your way to wherever
you are headed."
    "This place sure is neat," Sammi stated.
    "Yeah, look, there are some deer," Rosie replied, pointing her paw to
the forest floor, where a cluster of deer were foraging on the lush grasses
of a meadow near a stream.  The air was clear and fresh from this vantage
point, and the girl's fur was pressed to their backs and their ears were
tucked in to better manage the rushing wind.  Buzz made his way to the ring
of vultures that were circling something far below on the ground.  He spoke
to one of his brothers: "What have you got scent of?"
    "Smells like a fox.  Though he's not quite dead yet, just wounded.
 We're gonna wait up here and soar in the currents for an hour or so and wait
for him to die.  Don't want any trouble, you know."
    "Hmmm," Buzz replied, "I think I'll check this fox out for myself."
    "Who are all of these vultures?" Rosie asked, and Buzz descended rapidly
to the canopy of the trees.  He landed gracefully on the ground, and let go
of the girls.  In front of them was a sight that was at once intriguing and
at the same time appalling.
    "Oh, my," wiggles gasped, as she saw the small, reddish-brown fox lying
on the forest floor with it's right, hind leg bleeding, caught fast in a
steel trap, which was staked into the ground.  The fox was panting
uncontrollably, with an extremely frightened look in it's eyes.
    "Help," the Fox said...
 
     (to be continued...)
[Posted in FML issue 1657]