Journal Entry 134
03/12/2021
Been a rough week, me and Barry found a new rescue today, except this one was different. We were driving over to Henry's when this huge, and I mean huge vulture came out of nowhere and started attacking the damn truck! We stopped the truck and got out, and saw this guy ripping apart the roof of the truck. We noticed the thing was injured and somehow managed to get a catcher pole around its neck, and dragged it into the truck. Poor thing had a ruptured wing, must've been hit by a car.
As we were driving to the sanctuary, some weird stuff began to happen. It felt like it took forever to get back to the sanctuary, even though we were only 20 minutes away. Then out of nowhere, the truck just stopped. I check the engine and nothing was wrong, and that's when the truck started moving on its own! It must've driven a mile before Barry got it to stop. Should get that checked out. The whole time this vulture is screaming its ass off, god it was the worst noise I've ever heard.
We named the vulture "Shadow" after Barry's old dog, bless his soul. We got him to the sanctuary and he would not stop screaming. We got him into a temporary enclosure while Linda prepared to give him a checkup, but he would not calm down, I've never seen a bird so angry or big before. I'm heading home for the night, it's been too crazy today.
Journal Entry 135
03/13/2021
The checkup went… okay to say the least.
Took Linda and Barry 'bout an hour to actually catch Shadow, and another 30 minutes to actually sedate him. Poor fella must be scared outta his mind. Linda says he has a broken wing and that he'll need a cast. Like we'll be able to get it on him. She said he's some sort of vulture, but he's the biggest vulture any of us have ever seen, he must be 10 feet tall! Vultures eat dead animals, so we went out and bought some meat for him, although he hasn't eaten yet. Barry and Ben are setting up a permanent enclosure for him, so hopefully, he'll calm down then.
There's also been a lot of weird stuff going on around here, like really weird. I was walking down one of the hallways, and all of a sudden one of those wheelie chairs wheeled on right by me! No one was pushing it or anything, just wheeled past me by itself and turned a corner. Linda said she dropped a pencil and it stopped falling in midair, and Ben said he saw a mouse turn into a rat! Although Ben's always been a bit nuts, so I don't know If I believe that. Barry says he doesn't believe in ghosts, but I think I do, and I think we might be haunted.
Journal Entry 136
03/16/2021
Barry and Ben finished setting up Shadow's enclosure today, and we moved him into it after about an hour of struggle. Seemed super stressed out throughout the whole thing. We managed to get a cast fitted and onto his wing, he surprisingly doesn't seem to mind it. Once he was in his enclosure, he seemed a little less stressed, but stressed nonetheless. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to hand feed him, and see if he calms down a little.
Journal Entry 137
03/17/2021
Things went better than expected. Bad, but better than expected.
I entered Shadow's enclosure with a few scraps of meat, and he immediately ran towards me and tackled me! He pinned me to the ground and ripped the meat from my hands. Once he was off of me I ran out of that enclosure faster than I've ever run before. He ate the food though! First time he's eaten since he's gotten here, so it's a start. I'm going to try again tomorrow.
Journal Entry 138
03/23/2021
I've been doing the same thing with Shadow, and today we made some improvement!
Instead of tackling me like usual, Shadow just ran up to me and snatched the scraps from my hand. I sat in his enclosure and watched him eat, he didn't seem to mind that much. No screeching either, usually he screeches and squawks whenever I come in, but today he just sat there and looked at me as he ate his food.
I've also noticed that he's been starting to build a nest out of twigs, which is a good sign. He's been eating every day and drinking from his bowl. We are making some improvement here. I also did some research, and according to what I've found there's no vulture in the world as big as Shadow is. Maybe he's a new species or something.
In other news, there's still some weird stuff going on at the sanctuary. I was watching Shadow's enclosure, when a whole bunch of sticks flew into the air and over towards Shadow's nest, and started intertwining themselves into the nest. The whole time Shadow was watching the sticks intensely. What is going on?
Journal Entry 139
03/27/2021
I've been making some progress with Shadow! Every day I go into his enclosure with scraps of meat, and he comes up to me and takes them. Then he goes and lies down in his nest and eats them while watching me. I sit down and watch him, every time sitting a bit closer to his nest. He seems to be getting used to me. Barry and Ben have tried giving him scraps, but he tackles them every time as he did to me before, so I get feeding duty.
His wing seems to be getting a bit better. He obviously still needs the cast, but he's moving it a bit more.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try and pet him. I've gotten pretty close to his nest, so hopefully, I can get close enough, and he'll let me pet him.
Journal Entry 140
03/28/2021
Success!
I got close enough to Shadow's nest today to pet him, and I decided to just go for it. I slowly put my hand on his head and started petting him slowly. He seemed to enjoy it! He closed his eyes and we just sat like that for a while. I'm starting to feel a connection to him here, and I think his personality is starting to come out.
Journal Entry 141
04/1/2021
Shadow's personality is really starting to shine out! He's turned from a cranky bird to such a sweetheart. Every day when I come into his enclosure with his food he comes running up to me, happily squawking. We play this game with the food, I throw pieces of the scraps up into the air, and he catches them and eats them. Then, he clicks his tongue when he wants more, and we do that until there's no more scraps left.
He is such a cuddlebug too, we always have cuddle sessions in his big nest, I'll usually bring a pillow and blanket, although he likes to hog them sometimes, which I don't mind. He still doesn't like anyone else here, I think he's afraid of them. I've noticed that his feathers poof up a bit when he's scared, and his feathers always poof up when anyone else besides me enters his enclosure.
Journal entry 142
04/09/2021
Shadow is such a lovely and happy bird now! He's grown so much over the month since we've got him and is such a pleasure to be around. I spend hours in his enclosure with him, and the whole time he is by my side, either cuddling with me or wanting to play.
He's really taken to me, and I've really taken to him. He feels like my pet now, which is kind of a weird thing to say about a 7-foot tall vulture. I really love him, and I hope that he stays a happy bird forever.
On a side note, the weird stuff that was going on seems to have stopped. I don't know what's weirder, the fact that it was happening in the first place, or the fact that it just seemed to go away.
Note: Following the final entry, Foundation personnel were informed of SCP-6773's existence and quickly contained the entity. Members of Gary's Animal Sanctuary, including Mr. Pebbler were administered Class C amnestics.