Buzzards ate my RV trim!

[CCC]

Heads-up if you are heading to Bastrop lake in Texas. They have a large congregation of buzzards on the North Shore and those birds have an appetite for rubber. Windshield wipers, slide-out seals, rubber roofs.

Who knew?

Well, the park did post a sign and the nice lady did warn us. But she said with folks out and about we should be OK...it's only if you leave your vehicle for days with no activity that they bother anything.

So. Not. True.

We were gone for an afternoon and returned to find holes in our roof and the slide-out seal demolished (see pics below). I think they'd have left the roof alone if the foam slide seal hadn't tempted them with its rubbery goodness.

So, word to the wise: put your slides in if you are in a buzzard habitat. And next time you look up and see 'em circling, don't assume it's roadkill. It could be a tasty RV they are eyeballing.

EDIT: On the silver lining front, insurance is going to cover the repairs.

[camper 2010]

Thanks for the information. I don't think that would cross my mind while camping.

[BirchyBoy]

Wow, that's terrible. It's good that the insurance is covering it.

[gvansickle1]

Sorry for your loss but thanks for the info. We just spent the weekend down at Canyon Lake. Saw plenty of buzzards and never gave them a 2nd thought... I guess that we had enough traffic around our TT. We will definitely look at them differently going forward. Also good to know that insurance is going to cover it.

[Ken / Claudia]

In 2008, I was returning to the police truck after a river patrol and had several crows on the hood near the winshield. They left and so did I. 50 mile drive back to the boat storage and it starts raining with about 40 miles left. The driver side rubber wiper blade was gone, only the metal bracket left . I took the passenger side wiper off and onto the drivers side, flipped the passenger side wiper foreword and it stayed that way. I told co workers the crows took the rubber blade and no one believed me. So, yes I believe this story. Great to hear insurence stepped up, I wonder what they thought about your story.

[CCC]

There were plenty of crows around, too. One morning we saw a band of buzzards strewing about a garbage bag left out by some tent campers...what a mess. Our insurance agent didn't't have any problem believing our story.

Yesterday a co-worker told my husband that he'd been out to Bastrop to fish (it's a great Bass lake) in 100+ degree weather and had left his truck windows cracked. Maybe the hot weather makes the rubber seals give off more rubber smell, but the buzzards not only took off the window foam stripping, but notice the loaf of bread he'd left inside thte truck. They ended up breaking the window and two buzzards got in-- but couldn't figure out how to get out. They completely trashed the inside of his truck, taking the seats down to the spring wires. His truck was totaled.

So, I'm posting this to warn you all. I've never given buzzards a second thought either, but I will in the future...at least in Bastrop.

[Kristi]

Yikes! Sorry to see that, hopefully it will be fixed soon!

[floatflyer]

That's probably making the rounds at the insurance company as the craziest claim of the week.