I went on a hike today and midway through I noticed some Turkey vultures swooping around above me, perfectly normal for the area. They are probably my favorite kind of bird, so I decided to watch them fly around for a bit. I eventually had to leave the area they were chilling in. After I got far away from the area, I noticed they were back, this time closer to the ground & circling above me. I didn’t think much of it so I kept heading back to my car, but they were still following me and were now close enough to land on the trees, It seemed strange so I stopped moving around and looked at them, they came down further and just stared at me as I stared directly back at them. They were so close, I could see them very well at this point, they were both looking at me.
I stood staring back for a while until someone else passed me on the path with two large dogs.
Then, after the vultures weren’t scared off by the dogs I decided they must have been too interested in me so I hurried on my way and didn’t look back.

I am 99.9% sure they were interested in me, but I’m not sure why. Some hypotheses:
1. They smelled/were attracted to my period blood
2. They saw that I was walking strangely/as if I was in pain (b/c I was) and thought I might just drop dead.
3. They were just curious why I was watching them/ just though I was neat or something??

Or a combination of 1 & 2.

It was very strange behavior, I am glad I got to see them up close, I love those funky feathered trashmen. Im just curious why they would want to get so close. (Also, if I happened to bring them a treat next time…would that be bad? I feel kinda bad for misleading them and not dying lol. )