Another Idea for The Vulture Bed and Breakfast

Hey, that's a great idea! Not only could you collect fees from people who want their relatives eaten by vultures, but you could rent rooms to those who just want to watch the vultures go about their work! I bet you'd meet some really, really interesting people this way!

If you started a vulture B&B, odds are that some developer would want to convert it to condor-miniums.

(Sorry, it's Friday.)

In looking into it a little more, it is primarily Buddhists who subscribe to such practices. I think it would be a great way to reduce the environmental impact of death, a final chance for someone to "give back" to the environment.

Many cemetaries have schemes where one can purchase a plot. You could have a plan where one could pre-purchase the service. Get $1000 from a few hundred people, and you might have enough to do it.

You are well enough known that people will know it isn't a scam. As I understand it, the property is now in forclosure, which means the bank owns it. The bank might be willing to help with financing if you present a credible plan to go forward on this.

The difficulty might be in getting permitted. Assistance from a native American tribe that used to practice this might help, or from a Buddhist organization might help. The Dalai Lama's organization might be a place to start. I don't know enough about the law, but many religious organizations are exempt from local zoning ordinances.

If you set it up as a non-profit, you might be able to get a lawyer to help with the legal stuff pro bono. Pay yourself a salary and use any "profits" to expand, do educational outreach to the community and research.

I've just come back from a holiday in Iran. I saw some ossuaries previously used by the Zoroastrian community in Yazd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towers_of_Silence
Essentially shut down in the 70's due to the town encroaching. I think zoning would be your biggest start up problem.
Another one would be what do you do with the bones afterwards? In the Zoroastrian "Towers of Silence" they were finally deposited down a central hole (nice touch, though. Everyone ends up together in death). In Yazd they had to build a second "tower" when the first one filled up.

Still the idea seems to have merit as an alternative to current European practices.

Stephenk

I've seen the practice referred to a "sky funerals." That might be a good name for a business.

In Tibet, they break the bodies down into small pieces so that they are more easily consumed by the birds. You could do the same thing. I have been thinking of how, perhaps something like a ball mill but with 10 kg natual stones. Maybe you engrave the person's name on the stone before putting it in the ball mill and never take it out. The family could take rubbings, and pictures, and then eventually the stone gets ground up to dust too. By working with and helping all the others go the way of all things.

To make the process "hygenic", maybe you would need to autoclave the bodies first. Then you mix any nutritional supplements the birds might need. Maybe put the body into a woven straw bag, add the supplements, maybe flowers (that are compatible with the birds physiology) then grind everything up. The purpose of the bag is to hold everything together and visually hide what is going on until the contents are unrecognizable.

It would be a lot more envioronmentally benign than any other method, including cremation. Cremation takes extra fuel and so causes more CO2 emission.

It would probably be a good idea to remove any teeth that have fillings, perhaps save a few for DNA analysis should a bone get carried off and the police want to check it.

The bird droppings that you can capture could be used as fertilizer.

I don't know about the US, but in most of the EU it's illegal to intentionally leave carcasses (human or otherwise) out for scavengers to feed on, except in very specific cases, because of mad cow disease.

I only know this because a few weeks ago, we had griffon vultures migrate north from Spain (I'm in Belgium) looking for food, and birdwatchers were afraid they'd die because there was no effective way to feed them.
A few of them were caught, fed in private, and released, but most of them moved on to the Netherlands, where a bird sanctuary was exceptionally allowed to leave food out for them.

"In Tibet, they break the bodies down into small pieces so that they are more easily consumed by the birds."

I've heard of this. Its called sky burial. Its an interesting way for someone to make their final passage.

Really, really fascinating idea we've got here.

A problem we might run into might be the risk to aircraft. Wasn't there a post here a few months back about a body farm somewhere else that had to be shut down because all the vultures were making it dangerous for aircraft?

Ah yes, found it:

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2007/05/human_body_farm_plans_bur…

Might have issues with neighbours as well, y'know, the NIMBY sort.

But besides all that, I'd say go for it. =)

I don't know if vultures are resistant to prions that cause mad cow, but chickens are. I would presume that vultures are resistant. Having the bodies in a site only accessible by vultures would prevent contact with organisms that could transmit them.

Being a religious entity can trump local ordinances. I know of a case where a Mormon temple was being built and they wanted a tall steeple, but the local zoning (and their neighboors) didn't allow buildings above a certain height, but the zoning regulations didn't apply to a church.

You might want to google "vulture excrement" before going ahead with your plans for a vulture-themed B&B. At the very least, make sure there's indoor parking for all your guests.

HP: and their cars. :-)

Bob