CHARLESTON, S.C. - Every now and then, a couple of women pull off the side of U.S. Highway 17, hoist a fresh deer carcass into their truck and speed off.
They admit it looks a little strange, but they'll tell you it's for the birds - literally.
These drive-by roadkill heists are part of the feeding program at the International Center for Birds of Prey under construction in Awendaw.
The private, nonprofit raptor education and research facility has raised about half the $9 million it needs, and officials expect the center to open in the next year.
Construction of the main buildings will begin within two months, and the staff is being trained. But already the center, home to 230 birds, has become a contributing neighbor to the Lowcountry. It is gaining an international reputation for its promise to be the finest facility of its kind, and it treats hundreds of injured raptors every year.
Even in captivity, the birds help keep the roads clean.
"The reason we have so many black vultures and turkey vultures in this state is that there are a lot of dead things," says Jemima Parry-Jones, international director of the center. "Without the vultures, there would be a lot more disease here, and it would be a lot smellier."
Doing public relations for vultures is only a small part of her job, but one that Parry-Jones relishes. These days, she's so busy it's nice to take a moment just to commune with her flock. Aside from her work preparing the birds of prey center, the acclaimed raptor expert is involved with India's efforts to replenish its vulture population and captive breeding programs.
Not that she hasn't got her hands full here. There are 230 eagles, vultures, falcons, hawks, owls and the like on site, and there are 109 enclosures built on the 152-acre site so far.
Jim Elliott, executive director of the center, said that while construction on buildings and flying fields continue, more than 80 volunteers and less than a dozen staffers are continuing their efforts to get the $8.75 million facility up and running.
"This is all so when we open, we have everything in place and know what we have to do for anything, hurricane evacuations, systems, procedures," Elliott said.
The center is a merger of Elliott's South Carolina Center for Birds of Prey and Parry-Jones's National Birds of Prey Centre in Gloucestershire.
She brought her collection of more than 180 birds to Charleston in November, and so far the exotic mix of birds have acclimated well to the area.
They like their new digs and apparently shows signs of having good taste. The King vultures have a habitat with two types of wire caging on it: some that costs 78 cents a foot, and some that costs $5 for the same area. The vultures are feasting on the $5 wire.
It's not like they haven't got anything else to eat. Already, Department of Natural Resources officers know to bring fresh deer to the center for disposal.
Not only does that save money on food, but it's also an attempt to show the importance of vultures - not the most beloved raptors - in the ecosystem. Parry-Jones says they aren't the dirty birds most people think they are. They won't eat dead animals that aren't fresh and they will fly 20 miles for a bath after dinner.
And, they are graceful animals that will figure prominently in the center's flight demonstrations.
"We are trying to change attitudes toward vultures," said Susan Bogart, a volunteer at the center.
Parry-Jones said the center's birds, including those who migrated from England, are settling into the Lowcountry well and that when the International Center for Birds of Prey opens, she hopes it can be the most significant raptor center in the world.
The work there has gone a long way toward establishing that reputation, and Parry-Jones has found there are fringe benefits.
"I can chop up a deer in 10 minutes now," she said.
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