Wild Turkeys Can’t Be Shot

Every time I download pictures from my camera, I find about fifty photos of the wild turkeys that frequent Green Acres. In many of these photos, you can barely see the turkeys. That is because they are taken by my husband, who has the eyesight of a turkey (for those of you who don’t know, that’s a good thing; turkeys have “phenomenal eyesight,” to quote Byron himself). The other day I did, however, weed through the myriad of turkey photos, deleting those only a turkey would appreciate and keeping some to post on my blog to make up for my Disney Princess Party post.

Every morning, the turkeys make the rounds around our property. We initially counted three hens and fifteen poults, but one hen has been MIA for quite some time now. We believe it has to do with the two foxes we’ve also spotted on the property. Anyway, they display all kinds of antics, from simultaneous flapping and takeoff to kicking up mounds of dust when they hit an ant hill or some such treat. The kids find feathers all over the place, and love collecting them, though Charlie is in a quandary as to why they don’t grow anymore, especially when he took scissors to one he particularly liked.

As fun as they are to watch, we’re still hoping for wild turkey this Thanksgiving. Though I’m not a hunter, Byron used to hunt quite a bit, and I don’t have any ethical issues with the practice as long as the animal is used for food and not sport alone. I think as part of living sustainably, it’s something we will embrace, and we certainly don’t intend to decimate the world turkey population by taking more than we can eat. But enjoy the pictures. And maybe we’ll be blessed enough to enjoy one of these birds for Thanksgiving.