[ad_1]
Ben Franklin called the wild turkey a "bird of courage" and thought it would make it a better national symbol than the bald eagle.
The wild turkey is a creature very different from its cousin raised on a farm. You can see them in the wooded areas with interspersed clearings, a farm and even on your lawn or garden. This is the time of year when we are looking for the perfect turkey to adorn our Thanksgiving Day table. A moment where family and friends meet to celebrate all we are grateful for. These overly fleshy chickens, bred in cramped conditions on industrial farms, can barely fly because they were bred for a giant belly, allowing them to quickly fly from the freezer in your grocery store.
Although I greatly appreciate the Thanksgiving dinner with my family, I am always amazed when I happen to spot the beautiful wild turkey while I am sneaking into Boundary County. Wild turkeys are found in large numbers in all states of the United States except Alaska. Although these birds are big enough, they are pretty well camouflaged and often difficult to see.
Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, here is some information on wild turkeys that you may not know.
Wild turkeys live in family groups foraging in the quiet forests and woods surrounding farmland and fields, especially in areas with streams, ponds and lakes. The turkeys communicate through 28 different vocalizations, from snarling to sharp kee kee, to chirping, purring, crackling and kicking.
Turkeys can look out of place – tilting their heads and looking at the sky – but they are fast. In a poultry race, they can clock over 12 miles per hour, beating chickens by 3 mph. The rabbit leaves them both in the dust while he zigzags from danger to 18 km / h.
A man, called "tom", is about 3 to 4 feet tall and weighs about 20 pounds. It is a thin bird, with lean legs, long neck and bare head, tinged during the breeding season alternating tones of red, white and blue. A long foot of rough boots, feather-like hair, called meso filoplumes, fall from his chest to resemble a beard. Adult hens average 10 to 12 pounds for most subspecies.
His full-throat gobble-gobble sound can be heard for a quarter of a mile and earned him the nickname "gobbler". Females, called chickens, have brown and dull gray feathers and pink skin with bare skin. Both sexes exhibit a pinkish-red skin fold hanging from the neck called a fleece, hence the term "turkey neck" to describe a person's neck at sagging skin. Young turkeys attach to insects like candies. They develop a greater taste for the plants after four weeks.
Most of us will not eat wild turkey for Thanksgiving as the pilgrims did. Instead, we will cut farmed turkeys from domestic turkeys and wild turkeys. Whatever your choice of turkey, wild or domestic, celebrate Thanksgiving with your family and friends.
"Always for Thanksgiving Day, the heart will find the way home." – Wilbur D. Nesbit
Enjoy Boundary County, its beauty and wildlife!
[ad_2]
Source link
