Yesterday a flock of wild turkeys stopped by our yard. Listening and watching them pick through the grass for bugs and seeds was very pleasing, and I wanted to share a few pictures. Getting the whole flock together to pose was, of course, not possible but this is a part of it.I hadn't seen the older ones this fall, but flocks do make circuits. Possibly they were up on the hills until winter came and the pickings there were less than around a creek. Their lives aren't easy but it is pleasing to see them in our valley. This flock numbered maybe 15. It's not possible to be sure how many are toms yet.
7 comments:
Oh, how fun to have them in your yard so you could watch them. I've never seen a wild turkey let alone a whole yard full!
I guess they survived Thanksgiving and stopped by to celebrate. A coworker had many around his place, but he said almost all of them disappeared just before Turkey Day.
It's exciting to see pictures and read about Turkeys. I wish I lived where they would visit me. I'll just have to enjoy yours.
My husband volunteers for Oregon Fish and Wildlife. One of their projects was to help out a landowner who was feeding turkeys and had so many they were leaving behind mounds and dunes of their droppings. They were wild and dangerous. But when the agency and volunteers tried to trap 30 to transport to Eastern Oregon, the turkeys disappeared. The rest of the story was that the land owner sort of liked the turkeys and didn't co-operate. The moral of the story is - don't feed them.
The turkeys were dangerous? That reminds me of the people who are afraid of the bull snakes in Tucson. I can't imagine how the turkeys would be dangerous to people. The ones in this valley run if you get close. Without a doubt, they are interested in the areas where we feed the small birds. They also are interested in the apple trees but dangerous? I am trying to understand how? Geese also offend people but they are the same way. Big birds that can be aggressive but they are just birds and people are way more powerful.
Years ago we had a goose that came to our door and was mesmerized by his reflection. I think he thought it was his mate. He was not wild though but someone had let him loose. When we were gone one year, he disappeared and I have no idea what caused that whether he got eaten or found a new area but he definitely did leave a lot of droppings but the turkeys don't stay that long to be a problem.
I'll admit that the only Wild Turkey I've experienced is the whiskey. I do remember my dad taking my kids and me to a big turkey farm near where they lived and explaining they were among the dumbest creatures on the planet. (Is this true, I wonder?) I do remember that he would make a gobble, gobble sound and the thousands of them would all do the same thing.
It has to be exciting to see all the animals you do see routinely.
Wild turkeys are so amazing - I was driving recently near my home and there by the side of the road were a small flock of turkeys - just lovely. thanks Rain.
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