William
03-17-2005, 06:23 AM
So I'm in my kitchen yesterday afternoon, I look out the window and notice something moving in the brush at the edge of our yard (about 25 yards away). I can see that there are a number of wild turkeys out there though I can't make out how many. I'm thinking "cool, I haven't seen any turkeys around for quite a while". I watch for a while and then go back to finishing up the paperwork I was working on. About ten minutes later I look out the window again expecting that they've moved on into the woods. Instead I'm shocked to see a huge group right out side my window. I start counting and come up with 25 good sized wild turkeys under my window. One of them was a real big boy with the colored head and strutting around striking up a good pose every so often. They're feeding on some of the suet that has fallen on the ground from one of our bird feeders. Rhea Basset gets a whiff and her hunting instincts turn on and she goes to the door wanting to go out. I thought about it briefly, but they are usually very wary and occasionally can get pretty mean as well.
One of my students is a motorcycle officer who took a call once about a Wild turkey blocking a road and chasing a few people. He gets off his bike and tries to shoo it off the road. The feathery guy starts running after him and chased him around his bike a few times. He didn't want to shoot the guy, but those things have very sharp spurs/talons that they will use. He had to get it to stop chasing him as well as get it out of the area so he tried a well placed round kick that sent it running off into the woods (hey, it was better then shooting him).
Anyway, part of the group broke off and went around to the front of the house where another feeder is. They eventually circled the house and met back up with the main group. Then they walked off into the back yard, crossed the creek and then were off into the woods. Rhea Basset and myself were walking from window to window, me drinking a latté checking out the wild life scene, Rhea pawing my foot saying "hey man, let me out!" pretty cool event I thought. One of the reasons I like living a bit off the beaten track.
I've encountered them riding on the road a number of times. Usually 4 -5 turkeys max. I'll always stop and let them cross. I don't want to mess with them. Besides, I hear they have a thing for tubulars. ;)
William
One of my students is a motorcycle officer who took a call once about a Wild turkey blocking a road and chasing a few people. He gets off his bike and tries to shoo it off the road. The feathery guy starts running after him and chased him around his bike a few times. He didn't want to shoot the guy, but those things have very sharp spurs/talons that they will use. He had to get it to stop chasing him as well as get it out of the area so he tried a well placed round kick that sent it running off into the woods (hey, it was better then shooting him).
Anyway, part of the group broke off and went around to the front of the house where another feeder is. They eventually circled the house and met back up with the main group. Then they walked off into the back yard, crossed the creek and then were off into the woods. Rhea Basset and myself were walking from window to window, me drinking a latté checking out the wild life scene, Rhea pawing my foot saying "hey man, let me out!" pretty cool event I thought. One of the reasons I like living a bit off the beaten track.
I've encountered them riding on the road a number of times. Usually 4 -5 turkeys max. I'll always stop and let them cross. I don't want to mess with them. Besides, I hear they have a thing for tubulars. ;)
William