Pat Shingleton for June 18, 2012

Turkey vultures are beneficial to Louisiana as they not only clean the roadways of decomposing animals, also known as “road kill,” but feast on trash discarded from motorists. Their head shape gives them easy access to the inside of carcasses. Noticing the scavenging vultures along our interstates, highways and byways may be a stomach-turner and there’s another aspect of the bird that is borderline gross. To stay cool, it uses a process known as urohydrosis, which is a polite way of noting that it urinates on its legs to prevent overheating. This process serves two purposes for the vulture. The evaporating urine cools blood circulating through its legs and also activates a disinfectant that eliminates germs that the scavenger may have absorbed from an earlier breakfast, lunch or dinner. Fastcast: Incredibly humid.