'Too drunk to fly': Intoxicated vultures rescued in Connecticut, fed food for hangover

Two vultures rescued in Connecticut were believed to be dying. Turns out they were just drunk.

Wildlife rehabilitators A Place Called Hope, in a post on social media, said that the two vultures, nicknamed "the dynamic duo," were found "unable to balance [or] stand."

"They were literally drunk," the facility said. "Unable to balance, stand, kept passing out or in our eyes, actively dying… we ran every test [and], in the end, they were too drunk to fly," the facility said.

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Officials say vultures became drunk after 'dumpster diving'

The facility said that their staff members and those at the Watertown Animal Control, "suspected the worst," and were confused about what was happening with the two birds "until the details of their story fell into place," and it was eventually deduced that the vultures were simply intoxicated and not dying.

"These two, the dynamic duo…celebrated a day early for the eclipse by dumpster diving and getting themselves into something that was fermented enough to cause severe intoxication," the center said.

The two birds were then given plenty of fluids and "tucked in overnight" so they could recover from the hangover. The next day they were given a "big breakfast," to regain their health before they could be released back into the wild.

"Thankfully, they returned home today before our center could be labeled a 'detox' facility," joked the rehabilitation center.

Video shows vultures being released after sobering up

Video footage shared by the center showed the two vultures hopping and flying off the minute they were released into the open. They were later captured perching together on top of a tree.

A Place Called Hope, in their post, also advised people to be careful when discarding garbage because "cocktail fruit that ends up in a dumpster can end up intoxicating wildlife if the dumpster is not kept closed."

"Drunk vultures are not easy patients," they added.

A Place Called Hope is a non-profit organization, entirely run by volunteers on donation that cares for injured, orphaned, sick or non-releasable birds of prey such as hawks, falcons, harriers, kites, eagles and owls.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.