Wild Turkeys
Moderator: TMAX
It's ten o'clock Sunday morning. I slept in late (9AM) because I was gathering bus photos until four in the morning last night (OH, morning). My dog, Buddy, is a little slow about doing his duty (doody). Sometimes, he has to wait for 24 hours because I have refused to walk him for 1 1/2 hours waiting for him to take a dump. I knew that this morning he was ready, because he woke me up by pacing back and forth on the floor of the bus. As you may know, it is a wood floor, and dog nails make a loud sound on it. So I get out of bed and drink my morning Gatorade and check the email and Sharkey's site. Buddy is doing the pee pee dance and I know that he will relieve himself fully as soon as I get up off my ass and go take him out. It's cold out this morning so I put on my warm socks and waterproof boots, remove the floor cover over the steps of my bus, get the 20 foot rope leash, connect him to it, and head out of the bus. The sun is shining brightly and it is 45 degrees outside. Blue skies, white clouds, fresh air, this must be "Green Acres". I used to think that Buddy was the barking dog, but have realized that it is Emma with the loud mouth. The property where I am is hilly. So off we go and Surprise Surprise, there are the turkeys, just 30 seconds into the walk. I top a little hill and am 25 feet from them. They see us, and we see them. Buddy doesn't make a sound. I know from experience what will happen next so I hold on to the rope so that Buddy doesn't rip my arm off. Naturally, he goes running for the turkeys. Then a most amazing thing happens. Them creatures take off with a short run and then actually fly away into the trees. You would think that they are birds. OH, they ARE birds!. What a sight to behold. There were at least 20 of them. So then, I tell Buddy that they are all gone. He still has drool coming out of his mouth because he can smell their scent. I take him away to another part of the property and he does what he needs to do. I walk back to the bus to get Emma for her walk. She is quick. She is way smarter than Buddy. While I am out there with Emma, I get an idea. Take some photos. I grabbed my camera and went to the trees. I snapped three photos. I really thought that I had captured one of the turkeys in flight. When I got close to the trees, they took off in flight again. Alas, the only good shot I got was of one of those big birds on a limb of a tree about 60 feet in the air. I know that I will, eventually, get THE great turkey photo. Here is what I have for today. Look at the center of the photo to see the bird in the tree.
Last edited by Rudy on Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:22 am, edited 2 times in total.
I was looking at the turkey in the tree photo and I noticed that there are actually two of them up there. Look to the left of center and you can see the other one. Now, I want to tell you about when I was attacked by a very large turkey. I will preface by saying that I have been bit by a dog, kicked in the chest by a goat ( that one knocked the wind out of me, and nearly broke a rib), charged by a 600lb boar, charged by a large deer, charged by a rather large cow, and splashed by a beaver while I was in a canoe on a moonlit night. That beaver almost tipped the canoe over. Well, let's get back to the turkey attack. I was living in Connecticut and working as a carpenter. I was going to visit Tim, who I learned a great deal about all phases of the work from. Tim had some farm animals. Some of them were white turkeys that he raised for meat. OH, just a little side note before I progress with the turkey story. I mentioned earlier in this thread about another friend's three guard geese. They were very territorial. Whenever I visited him, they would greet me in a non friendly manner. One time, one of them bit my pant leg. Fortunately, It did not have teeth like a dog does. So let's get back to the turkeys. Apparently, they become territorial as well. At Tim's house, there were six white turkeys. One of those turkeys had not been slaughtered the year before, so it grew to be an enormous creature. It stood at least 2 1/2 feet tall and probably weighed 50lbs. Well, I get out of the van, and I see, about twenty feet away that this "Monster Turkey" and the five smaller ones in back of it start waddling in my direction. I did not think much of it, as I had never been attacked by a turkey before. So I watch with curiosity as they keep forging forward. Now the strangest thing happens to the lead turkey. All of a sudden, his whole head goes from a red color to black. Then an even weirder thing happens. A noodle type appendage grows out from it's forehead and then dangles down several inches in between it's eyes. Actually it was quite alarming and grotesque at the same time. While all this is happening, The "big guy" keeps on advancing towards me while his clan waddle along behind him. Now the "bad boy" is two feet in front of me looking like something out of a Clive Barker movie, and what does he do? He spreads out his wings and jumps at me. Instinctively, I turn to the side and he bounces off of my hip and falls down onto the ground. I look at his followers and they stopped their advance. Well, wouldn't you know it, as soon as the "warrior" regains his balance, he makes another leap at me. This time I was prepared. I figured he did not have too many attack strategies. So I stood face to face with the ugly creature and waited until he was two feet in the air and I kicked him as hard as I could in the chest. This time, he didn't just fall down, he went rolling back about five feet. I then looked into his tiny black eyes and asked him if he wanted more. At that point I figured that he was embarrassed, so he turned around and all those stupid creatures waddled away. Fact is stranger than fiction.
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TMAX
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Hi Rudy, interesting story about the attack tom turkey. I have not had (fortunately) as much experience with this sort of bird as you. I do know a little about them though. The head changing colour is an emotional reaction, tom's heads will go from pale red to dark blue when excited or angered. The "noodle" is his comb (similar to a rooster's). It's always there, only more prominent when his head darkens. He attacked with his wings and feet, typical for many larger yard fowl.
Years ago, we had a large Embden (white) gander named Sarge. He was quite the asshole and the way I treated him never improved our relationship. Almost every day when I came home from work, Sarge would charge me when I entered the yard. I quickly learned the best thing to do was grab, then sit on him (not my total weight, that would be too much) and proceed to dutch rubs (goose noogies). While doing this, his eyes went from deep azure blue to dark red (he was really pissed off). I would then throw him out from under me. As soon as he hit the ground, he would pirouette, throw his wings out, start hissing and honking loudly. But he never came around for seconds on the same day. Eventually he got me though. One day I entered the yard with my hands full, he realized right away that opportunity was knocking his door down. He ran up and latched on to my shoe (I'm glad I was wearing shoes). Raised a huge bruse on my foot. Fair play I guess.
more later
TMAX
Years ago, we had a large Embden (white) gander named Sarge. He was quite the asshole and the way I treated him never improved our relationship. Almost every day when I came home from work, Sarge would charge me when I entered the yard. I quickly learned the best thing to do was grab, then sit on him (not my total weight, that would be too much) and proceed to dutch rubs (goose noogies). While doing this, his eyes went from deep azure blue to dark red (he was really pissed off). I would then throw him out from under me. As soon as he hit the ground, he would pirouette, throw his wings out, start hissing and honking loudly. But he never came around for seconds on the same day. Eventually he got me though. One day I entered the yard with my hands full, he realized right away that opportunity was knocking his door down. He ran up and latched on to my shoe (I'm glad I was wearing shoes). Raised a huge bruse on my foot. Fair play I guess.
more later
TMAX
We need more turkey pictures. They have not been around my yard for two weeks. I really wanted to capture a photo of the males with their wings spread out. I know that some of you readers have them birds around your property. Perhaps you can get the "ultimate" turkey photo and post it here. That would be an awesome addition. I guess you might have to keep your camera in your pocket when you go outdoors. Thanks for all your input. TMAX, I love your story about sitting on the bird and giving it, what we used to call "noogies". No wonder it was pissed at you!
It rained this morning. Maybe that's what brought the turkeys here to the field. I was walking my dog Buddy and I could tell he smelled something. I topped the hill and saw the bunch of turkeys before he did. I quickly returned with Buddy to the bus and grabbed my camera. I actually had to make Buddy wait to do his duty (doodie). I got a few shots and here they are. I spoke to someone in the know, and apparently I will have to wait until the spring to see the males fanning their feathers. Well, here's what I have for today.
Last edited by Rudy on Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:25 am, edited 6 times in total.
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Dennis The Bus Dweller
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