Turkey Time

The turkeys are learning! Awhile back I blogged about trying to teach the turkeys that it is safe to eat in the corn yard and that I am not a threat when they see the strange creature with two legs, two arms and two noisy buckets scattering yellow goodies all over the ground.  Tis the season for making babies and I was blessed with a gift from God to see a spectacular tom display his beautiful feathers early one morning.  I am quite sure there is correct terminology for his behavior so my apologies to my more knowledgable readers. Ok, I decided not to be lazy and look up some info....he was strutting...intending to attract females (obviously) who largely ignored him and scare away other males, which must have worked as I did not see any other toms or gobblers.

A few days earlier, I saw two toms by themselves checking out the corn yard for the first time.  I wondered about those feathers dangling from their chests and originally thought maybe they were molting (the horses, dogs and cats are shedding) or they were in a fight (the deer are always 'hooving' eachother), but something in the back of my mind told me those were males and (I looked it up) that is their beard!  It grows longer with age however, my source says they could live up to 13 years but most die after two years or so...strange.  No explanation as to the early deaths unless it is resulting from the hunters.  Speaking of such individuals, yesterday morning I heard a gun shot close as I was in the barn.  But due to being slightly downhill and in a brick building, I am unable to tell the direction of the shot.  It was tinny in sound and I have heard that gun before.  Little Bear, when frightened, trots down to the barn to get me, so I walked up to the house with her to discover Nugget and Coty were nervously awaiting for me on the back porch which tells me it was close to the house... damn the soul that continues to trespass on my property.  It angers me to no end knowing what a stray bullet could do...  Sammy was out too, and the idiot could have shot him...So off I go up the woods along the deer paths but found nothing.    Of course I won't, this man is good at hiding, he is a hunter....I did scare off my turkeys and some deer so he must have already left after hearing my angry words or he was not in that area, etc.  Alas, I got some decent exercise as I walked up and down some hills, covering about 50 acres.  I was down with a severe cold  for 9 days prior so this was good for me to get back in the swing of things!

I now have a lone female who frequently visits the corn yard now, so perhaps she has found a safe place to nest close to the house....Sammy, don't you dare go in the woods now! (and yes, Sam is off the 'deer' hook.  Many thanks to my educated readers who enlightened me on deer carcasses...I saw it again yesterday and it is now obliterated)....Have a Happy Easter and enjoy a wonderful holiday with your loved ones!

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